Parker Valby Will Win Bowerman

Tuohy won the first five by a grand total of about 16 seconds, then Valby beat Tuohy by 12 and 28, not counting the 5000 DNF at NCAAs last spring where Valby would have blown her off the track by at least 25 after the way Tuohy looked in that 1500. At least Valby made it a race when she lost; Tuohy isn't in the same video frame.

And since you thought you were going to be a smarta$$ with the "Scholar Athlete of the Year" comment, I'm sure it will annoy you to know that Wiley won the National Scholar Athlete of the Year last year.

And Tuohy didn't get admitted to Florida.

Tuohy beat her at regionals an hour after winning the 1500. If she just ran the 5000m Valby would not have won anything. That is just reality, especially given how well Tuohy ran at the US trials. It was a gift.

We will never know how XC would have turned out given bad luck and illness.

Oh and its *14:56. Three separate runners broke the prior ncaa 5000m record in the same meet at the newly resurfaced BU track. Take away the track technology and Rodenfels acting like a valet and you get in the low 15s range, which is where Valby was at the end of XC the year prior.

Award will be announced on December 19.

Finalists:

Men:
Caleb Dean, Texas Tech, hurdles
Christopher Morales Williams, Georgia, 400m
Leo Neugebauer, Texas, decathlon and long jump

Women:
Maia Ramsden, Harvard, distance
Jaida Ross, Oregon, throws
Parker Valby, Florida, distance

Hope astro is doing ok, he's been real quiet lately

Should undoubtedly be Neugebauer for men. Women is more complex. Ross was 4th

Nothing going on.

Seems pretty straightforward on the women’s side. Hard to beat five individual titles in a single academic year.

I agree on who should win it, but only 4 of the titles count since XC does not count. Great year for her, with several records in addition to the titles, and no sprinters setting records this year as well as far as I can recall. If there was an Alfred this year it would be a tougher call.

Ross has the 5th best global shot this year and was 4th at Olympics. Valby was 23/51 in the track 10k, 5k respectively and finished 11th.

Valid point, but collegiate performance factors way more than international.

Valby is not yet a medal threat or among the absolute best couple of distance runners in the world. But, she dominated the NCAA. I think she clearly was the most valuable performer for a team at the Championships.

Relatively speaking, NCAA Sprints is much closer to the World Class levels than distance running. There are a lot of reasons for that, that I won't go into, but for that reason, I do think the committee purposefully leans on College Records/Championships for this award.

If the Bowerman went to the highest ranked athlete, Globally, it would almost always go to a Sprints/Hurdles/Long Jump athlete.

Forgot to say, Ross' international success is super impressive. I think the same factors that hold distance runners from being successful on the World Stage as collegiates are also at play in the throws, where physical development over time is big.

But for the Bowerman, her runner up finish at NCAA Indoors and her inability to be competitive in a second event at the NCAA National level (she qualified in Discus, but did she score?) kills her chances against Valby.

Valby is maxxed out. She took advantage of the ncaa window. Well played. Maybe she gets a Bowerman.

Dumb statement. She runs 30 miles. Of course she will improve as she eases into more mileage. This isn't a controversial concept. You hate her because she is faster than that washed up Tuohy. Add to that she is an Olympian amd beautiful akd a great person.

An overview of the finalists' accomplishments is available here:

ncaa.com

Here are the 2024 Bowerman finalists in track and field

The top three vote-getters for the men's and women's Bowerman — the Heisman of track and field — have been announced.

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Interesting note on Christopher Morales Williams: His indoor world record was never ratified because the starting blocks used by the SEC don't comply with World Athletics standards. Apparently, head coaches from SEC voted not to comply with the WA standards. I wonder why. They are depriving their athletes from world records.

edition.cnn.com

Canadian teenager Christopher Morales Williams denied 400m indoor world record due to starting block issue | CNN

George Ramsay

Canadian teenager Christopher Morales Williams’ blistering 400-meter performance will not be recognized as a world indoor record due to an issue with the starting blocks.

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