Kentucky women’s track and field teammates Olivia Gruver and Sydney McLaughlin were named to the mid-indoor season Bowerman Award Watch List, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced on Wednesday.
Gruver posted one of the best pole vault marks in collegiate indoor history last weekend at the home Rod McCravy Memorial meet.
The junior from Reisterstown, Maryland, cleared 15’3”/4.65m in the event, putting her fourth on the all-time list. Gruver remained unbeaten this season, as she also won event titles at the 2017 Hoosier Open, the Kentucky Invitational and the Clemson Invitational.
Gruver made her debut on the Bowerman watch list.
McLaughlin, who was named Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week on Tuesday, appeared on the list for the second time this year.
McLaughlin ran a nation-leading 51.44 to win the 400 meters at the McCravy on Saturday. The freshman Phenom set both the Kentucky and the UK freshman record in her collegiate 400m debut.
She has run two stellar relay legs this calendar year, in addition to a historic 300m collegiate opener.
McLaughlin won the Hoosier Open 300m in 36.12 seconds in December. That was the American junior record, the second fastest time in American history, second fastest in collegiate indoor history and seventh fastest in world history.
As USTFCCCA noted, historic and McLaughlin go in the same sentence quite a bit. Just last year, McLaughlin became the youngest athlete to make the U.S. Olympic Track & Field team since Carol Lewis and Denean Howard qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, which the Americans boycotted.
The winner of collegiate track & field’s highest individual honor will be named next December at the USTFCCCA Convention.
The Bowerman Watch List: 2018 Women’s Mid-Indoor Update
(Click student-athletes’ names for their TFRRS page)
| NAME | YEAR | SCHOOL | EVENTS | HOMETOWN |
| Mikiah Brisco | SR | LSU | Sprints/Hurdles | Baton Rouge, La. |
| Maggie Ewen | RS SR | Arizona State | Throws | St. Franics, Minn. |
| Olivia Gruver | JR | Kentucky | Pole Vault | Reisterstown, Md. |
| Dior Hall | RS JR | Southern California | Hurdles | Denver, Colo. |
| Lynna Irby | FR | Georgia | Sprints | Indianapolis, Ind. |
| Ednah Kurgat | JR | New Mexico | Distance | Eldoret, Kenya |
| Sydney McLaughlin | FR | Kentucky | Hurdles/Sprints | Dunellen, N.J. |
| Keturah Orji | SR | Georgia | Jumps | Mount Olive, N.J. |
| Karissa Schweizer | SR | Missouri | Distance | Urbandale, Iowa |
| Sammy Watson | FR | Texas A&M | Mid-Distance | Rochester, N.Y. |
| Also Receiving Votes: Taliyah Brooks (Arkansas), Kate Hall (Georgia), Lexi Jacobus (Arkansas), Janeah Stewart (Ole Miss), Ariana Washington (Oregon) | ||||
| Source: USTFCCCA | ||||
| NEXT: February 28 | ||||
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Jake Most