Three Gators Named to Bowerman 10
Thursday, June 24, 2010 | Track and Field
Florida track and field athletes Jeff Demps (Winter Garden, Fla.), Mariam Kevkhishvili (Tbilisi, Georgia) and Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.) are among the 10 men and 10 women student-athlete finalists that will be considered for The Bowerman, track and field's highest honor, in 2010, the New Orleans-based U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced this week.
The groups of 10 will be narrowed down to three women and three men by the 10-member Bowerman Advisory Board in the coming weeks.
The Board, chaired by Herman Frazier, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Sports Administration at Temple University, will release its selections on the week of July 12. The Board is vice chaired by Alfreeda Goff, Horizon League Senior Associate Commissioner.
Once the finalists are set, The Bowerman Voters, a group of around 100, consisting of national and regional media personnel, track & field statisticians, NCAA collegiate administrators, and Presidents of affiliated organizations will make their selections. Previous winners Galen Rupp and Jenny Barringer will also receive one vote. Once tabulations are calculated, award winners will be announced at the USTFCCCA Convention, held December 13-16 in San Antonio, Texas.
Demps, a sophomore sprinter, was a three-time NCAA Champion during the 2010 season, winning the indoor 60-meter national title, the outdoor 100-meter national title and anchoring the NCAA Championship 4x100-meter relay squad outdoors. Demps, also a football standout, became the first person in school history to win a national team title in two different sports, when he helped the Florida track and field team claim its first NCAA Indoor Championship in program history in March, after claiming a football title in 2008.
Demps holds Florida's school record in the 60-meter dash at 6.56 and is fourth outdoors in the 100m in a time of 10.06. He won the NCAA Outdoor 100-meter championship in a time of 9.96, which will not go down as a school record after being slightly wind-aided (+2.5). Demps also was the 2010 SEC Outdoor 100-meter champion. He anchored Florida's winning 4x100-meter relay team at the Pepsi Florida Relays, which clocked a time of 38.93 to set a new Florida Relays meet record and go down as the fastest 4x100m time prior to the month of May in school history. He was a two-time SEC Male Freshman Runner of the Week selection indoors.
Kevkhishvili, a senior thrower, was a two-time NCAA Champion during the 2010 season, winning both the indoor and outdoor women's shot put championships. That increased her career total to five NCAA individual championships and eight All-America honors. She was the 2010 USTFCCCA South Region Outdoor Women's Field Athlete of the Year and the 2010 SEC Outdoor Female Field Athlete of the Year.
Kevkhishvili captured the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championship with a toss of 18.11m/59-5, tying for the school record of most career titles by one individual. She went undefeated against collegiate competition during her final two seasons and was undefeated against all competition in 2010. Kevkhishvili was a five-time SEC Female Field Athlete of the Week during this past season and won SEC individual women's shot put titles both indoors and outdoors. Kevkhishvili ranks second all-time in school history outdoors (18.46m/60-6.75) and holds the school record indoors (18.59m/61-0). She won three consecutive NCAA indoor women's shot put championships to conclude her collegiate career and bested her personal-record indoor mark on three occasions during the 2010 season.
Taylor, a sophomore jumper and member of Florida's 4x400-meter relay team, was the 2010 NCAA Champion in the triple jump, both indoors and outdoors. He claimed four All-America honors in 2010 and was the 2010 USTFCCCA South Region Men's Field Athlete of the Year both indoors and outdoors. Taylor was the 2010 SEC Outdoor Male Field Athlete of the Year.
Taylor won the 2010 NCAA outdoor men's triple jump with a 2010 American-leading and collegiate-leading mark of 17.09m/56-1. It was the first NCAA men's outdoor triple jump championship in school history, and Taylor also earned All-America honors with a fourth-place finish in the long jump. He was the Gators' first SEC Outdoor Champion in the men's triple jump since Mike Sharpe in 1976 and placed second in a heated long jump competition with the second-best leap in school history at 8.19m/26-10.50. Taylor anchored Florida's 4x400-meter relay team that won the SEC Outdoor Championship and set the school record at the Pepsi Florida Relays with a time of 3:00.31. He also was the 2010 NCAA indoor men's triple jump champion for the second consecutive year, becoming the first athlete in school history to break the 17-meter plateau at 17.18m/56-4.50. He also placed second nationally in the long jump. Taylor won the SEC indoor men's triple jump and ran on the school's SEC Championship 4x400-meter relay squad.
For all of the latest information on Florida track and field, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/trackfield or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow the team's Twitter account @GZTrackField or www.twitter.com/GZTrackField.
BOWERMAN FINAL CANDIDATE LIST, 2010 MEN
- Sam Chelanga, Liberty, Jr., Distance
- Jeff Demps, Florida, So., Sprints
- Johnny Dutch, South Carolina, Jr., Hurdles
- Ashton Eaton, Oregon, Sr., Multi-Events
- Walter Henning, LSU, Jr., Throws
- Kirani James, Alabama, Fr., Sprints
- David McNeill, Northern Arizona, Sr., Distance
- Christian Taylor, Florida, So., Jumps
- Andrew Wheating, Oregon, Sr., Middle Distance
- Ryan Whiting, Arizona State, Sr., Throws
BOWERMAN FINAL CANDIDATE LIST, 2010 WOMEN
- Semoy Hackett, Lincoln (Mo.), So., Sprints
- Queen Harrison, Virginia Tech, Sr., Hurdles
- Kylie Hutson, Indiana State, Sr., Pole Vault
- Mariam Kevkhishvili, Florida, Sr., Throws
- Lisa Koll, Iowa State, Sr., Distance
- Porscha Lucas, Texas A&M, Sr., Sprints
- Francena McCorory, Hampton, Jr., Sprints
- Blessing Okagbare, UTEP, Sr., Sprints/Jumps
- Brianne Theisen, Oregon, Jr., Multi-Events
- Phoebe Wright, Tennessee, Sr., Middle distance
END OF REPORT
