The Bowerman: 2024 Men’s Post-NCAA Indoor Watch List

NEW ORLEANS – We’re halfway home.

The race for The Bowerman moves outdoors after a record-breaking indoor season. Ten athletes on the Men’s Post-NCAA Indoor Championships Watch List for The Bowerman combined for nine NCAA titles, three collegiate records and a slew of all-time marks under a roof.

Here are those athletes on this prestigious chart in alphabetical order: Mykolas Alekna of California, Romaine Beckford of Arkansas, Graham Blanks of Harvard, Johnny Brackins Jr. of Southern California, Kenneth Ikeji of Harvard, Terrence Jones of Texas Tech, Christopher Morales Williams of Georgia, Leo Neugebauer of Texas, Wayne Pinnock of Arkansas, and Nico Young of Northern Arizona.

The Bowerman will be awarded in December at the annual USTFCCCA Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Alekna, who hails from Vilnius, Lithuania, has yet to compete this season, but rewrote the record book just about every time he stepped inside the cage last year. Despite a third-place finish at the NCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Alekna entered the meet as the prohibitive favorite after posting eight of the top-10 farthest marks in collegiate history, including the 71.00m (232-11) CR that he launched in late April at The Big Meet. Alekna added the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 marks two weeks later at the Pac-12 Outdoor Championships.

Beckford, who hails from Portland, Jamaica, polished off an undefeated season and, more importantly, successfully defended his indoor high jump title and heads outdoors hoping to do the same. The Arkansas standout matched a PR set earlier in the season to win that NCAA crown in Boston, clearing 2.27m (7-5¼).

Blanks, who hails from Athens, Georgia, hasn’t competed since his then-collegiate-record-setting jaunt over 5000 meters at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in December. The Harvard standout, who won the individual title at the NCAA DI Cross Country Championships, traversed 25 laps in 13:03.78 to shave more than three seconds off the previous best.

Brackins Jr., who hails from Kansas City, Missouri, showed his prowess both on the track and in the field during the indoor season. The Southern California standout finished runner-up in the 60-meter hurdles and took fourth place in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships (Brackins only took two jumps, though, since the hurdling final occurred at the same time). Notably, Brackins won the long jump at the USATF Indoor Championships with a PR of 8.23m (27-0).

Ikeji, who hails from London, England, was a model of consistency and improved throughout the season in the weight throw. The Harvard standout capped an undefeated season in winning the event crown at the NCAA Championships with a mark of 24.32m (79-9½). Just a few weeks earlier, Ikeji launched a PR of 24.39m (80-0¼) to win the Ivy League title and move up to =No. 6 in collegiate history. Ikeji now has eyes on defending the hammer title that he won last year in Austin, Texas.

Jones, who hails from Freeport, Bahamas, doubled up on sprint titles at the NCAA Championships in Boston. The Texas Tech standout won both the 60 meters and 200 meters in Boston, nearly matching his PR in the latter with his 20.23 winner (Jones went 20.21 just a few weeks earlier at the Big 12 Indoor Championships). Now, Jones looks to improve on both of his finishes from last year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 100 and 200: third (200) and 11th (100).

Morales Williams, who hails from Vaughan, Ontario, was already the fastest man in world history and collegiate history in the 400 meters before he stepped on the track in Boston, Now, the Georgia standout has the hardware to prove he was the fastest when it mattered. CMW ripped two laps of the TRACK at New Balance in 44.67 to win the NCAA title and add another all-time mark to the ledger. He is now the only man in collegiate history with two sub-44.70 marks indoors (CMW set the all-time world best of 44.49 at the SEC Championships).

Neugebauer, who hails from Leinfeldene-Ectherdingen, Germany, dazzles when the lights are brightest. The Texas standout popped another massive PR to win an NCAA title: this time it was in the heptathlon where he scored 6347 points to become the fourth-best performer in collegiate history. You might remember he did the same thing last year outdoors when he destroyed the collegiate record in the heptathlon – and soared to No. 8 in world history – with his decathlon-winning total of 8836 points in Austin, Texas.

Pinnock, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, capped an undefeated season in the long jump with a victory at the NCAA Championships. The Arkansas standout spanned a PR of 8.40m (27-6¾) and equaled the Jamaican record held by former teammate Carey McLeod. Both McLeod and Pinnock are also tied on the all-time collegiate chart at No. 5. Pinnock flew farther than 8.28m (27-2) on five of his nine legal jumps this past indoor season.

Young, who hails from Camarillo, California, wrapped up a dream season with a sweep of the 3000- and 5000-meter titles at the 2024 NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships, which included a meet record of 7:41.01 in the former. Earlier in the season, Young became the first collegian to run sub-13 minutes in the 5000 meters when he set an absolute collegiate record at the John Thomas Terrier Classic in 12:57.14. He also became the first person in history to register a sub-4 mile at 7,000 feet.

Four athletes received votes, but not enough to land on the Watch List: Keaton Daniel of Kentucky, Luke Houser of Washington, Habtom Samuel of New Mexico and Parker Wolfe of North Carolina.

The next Watch List will be released on April 11.