The Bowerman: 2024 Men’s Mid-Outdoor Watch List

NEW ORLEANS – Spring has sprung and the race for The Bowerman is heating up.

Here are the ten athletes on The Bowerman Men’s Mid-Outdoor Watch List in 2024: Romaine Beckford of Arkansas, Graham Blanks of Harvard, Luke Houser of Washington, Kenneth Ikeji of Harvard, Terrence Jones of Texas Tech, Christopher Morales Williams of Georgia, Leo Neugebauer of Texas, Wayne Pinnock of Arkansas, Sam Whitmarsh of Texas A&M and Nico Young of Northern Arizona.

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

Beckford, who hails from Portland, Jamaica, has yet to compete after winning the high jump crown at the NCAA DI Indoor Track & Field Championships. The Arkansas standout equaled his PR of 2.27m (7-5¼) in Boston and topped 2.25m (7-4½) on three different occasions indoors.  

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.

Houser, who hails from Woodinville, Washington, is back on the Watch List for the first time since February 8. The biggest change between now and then is that the Washington standout now has an NCAA title to his name. Houser won the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships back in March as his kick proved to be too much for the rest of the field. Earlier in the indoor season, Houser clocked a 3:51.73 mile, which is the fourth-fastest all-conditions mark in collegiate history.

Ikeji, who hails from London, England, started off his outdoor season with a resounding victory in the hammer throw at the Pepsi Florida Relays. The Harvard standout launched the implement 72.94m (239-4) to win the event by more than 25 feet. That continued an undefeated year for Ikeji, as he never lost en route to winning the weight throw crown at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Ikeji set a PR of 24.39m (80-0¼) in the weight throw back in February to crack the all-time collegiate top-10.

Jones, who hails from Freeport, Bahamas, has yet to compete individually this outdoor season, but ran legs on Texas Tech’s 4×100 relay at the Texas Relays. Back in March, Jones doubled up on NCAA titles at the NCAA Indoor Championships with victories in both the 60 meters and 200 meters. His indoor season included a blistering 6.47 60-meter effort at the Jarvis Scott Open back in early February.

Morales Williams, who hails from Vaughan, Ontario, opened his season with a 200-meter PR of 20.93 at the Hurricane Collegiate Invitational and anchored Georgia’s 4×400 relay to victory with a 44.62 split. The following weekend, CMW posted a collegiate-leading 45.18 effort in the 400 meters, an event in which he won the NCAA indoor crown and registered an all-time world best of 44.49 at the SEC Indoor Championships back in February.

Neugebauer, who hails from Leinfeldene-Echterdingen, Germany, is taking a well-deserved break after his decathlon performance at the Texas Relays. The Texas standout amassed 8708 points on his home track, which is the third-best total in collegiate history behind his own CR of 8836 points and the former CR of 8720 points turned in by Kyle Garland. Neugebauer won the heptathlon with 6347 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships nearly one month ago.

Pinnock, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, hasn’t competed since winning the long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships. He spanned a 8.40m (27-6¾) PR in Boston to both equal the Jamaican national record and the fifth-best performer in collegiate history. Pinnock flew farther than 8.28m (27-2) on five of his nine legal jumps this past indoor season.

Whitmarsh, who hails from Lake Jackson, Texas, burst on the scene at the LSU Battle on the Bayou with a 1:44.46 clocking over 800 meters. That put the Texas A&M standout seventh on the all-time collegiate chart with the fastest mark before April 15. About one month earlier, he won the same event at the SEC Indoor Championships, yet did not compete at the NCAA meet.

Young, who hails from Camarillo, California, continued his outstanding year with a collegiate record-setting 26:52.72 effort in the 10,000 meters at The TEN. That made the Northern Arizona standout the first collegian to ever go sub-27 minutes over 25 laps, which adds to his accomplishment of being the first collegian to ever go sub-13 in the 5000 meters. Young swept the distance titles at the NCAA Indoor Championships with victories in both the 3000 meters and 5000 meters, the former of which was done in a meet-record 7:41.01.

Five athletes received votes from The Bowerman Watch List Committee, but not enough to land on the prestigious chart: Johnny Brackins Jr. of Southern California, Keaton Daniel of Kentucky, Jordan Davis of Southern Connecticut State, Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan of Ole Miss and Parker Wolfe of North Carolina.

The next Watch List will be released on May 2.