Kentucky track and field event NCAA Champions Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Olivia Gruver and Sydney McLaughlin were named semifinalists for The Bowerman on Wednesday.
McLaughlin shattered the 400m hurdles collegiate record, while Camacho-Quinn and Gruver rank No. 2 on the all-time list in the respective signature events.
Kentucky is just the second program in The Bowerman’s decade-long history to have three semifinalists in the same year. Oregon’s 2014 class – Laura Roesler (who won), Jenna Prandini (who won the next year) and Phyllis Francis – was the only other trio of teammates to earn spots on the semifinal list.
From Wednesday’s list of 10, three will be selected as finalists for collegiate track & field’s highest honor, which will be awarded in San Antonio on December 20 at the USTFCCCA Convention.
The three finalists will be named next Wednesday, June 20.
Camacho-Quinn capsule
Camacho-Quinn ran 12.40, .01 off the collegiate 100m hurdles record to win the SEC title for the third year in a row, to go along with her indoor 60m hurdles defense. She reclaimed the NCAA 100m hurdles title she won as a freshman after taking silver last year. Camacho-Quinn also ran key legs on UK’s fourth-place 4×100 and 4x400m relays. She was First Team All-America in three events indoors and three events outdoors.
Gruver capsule
Gruver became the No. 2 indoor pole vaulter in collegiate history with a clearance at 16’3.75”/4.67m to win the SEC title in February. That marks makes her the No. 3 performer on the absolute (indoor/outdoor) all-time collegiate list. She went on to defend her NCAA outdoor pole vault title, despite missing most of the outdoor season with a leg injury. She took bronze at NCAA indoors for the second year in a row.
McLaughlin capsule
McLaughlin set the track world alight all season long, culminating with her NCAA 400-meter hurdles gold last weekend at the NCAA Championships. She broke the collegiate record by nearly a second running 52.75 to win the Southeastern Conference title in May. The performance was also the 13th-fastest 400m hurdles time ever recorded and smashed her world junior record. The 2016 Olympian became the ninth fastest 400m hurdler on the world all-time list (a few runners have multiple times on the list). McLaughlin also ran a sub-50-second split on UK’s SEC gold 4x400m relay. She won the SEC indoor 400m title, claimed NCAA silver in the quarter mile, running second fastest collegiate indoor time ever, 50.36. She was All-America in five events as a freshman, including tying with teammate Camacho-Quinn for a nation-leading three honors indoors.
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Jake Most