Gators Place Nation-Leading Three on Final Bowerman Watch List
Thursday, June 2, 2011 | Track and Field
Florida has a nation-leading three athletes on the 10-person watch list for The Bowerman, track and field's highest honor, the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced Wednesday. This is the final watch list for the 2011 campaign, as semifinalists will be named on June 20 and three finalists announced on July 13.
Florida's Will Claye (Phoenix, Ariz.), Jeff Demps (Winter Garden, Fla.) and Christian Taylor (Fayetteville, Ga.) all have been named to the seventh update of the 2011 Bowerman Watch List. The Bowerman Advisory Board appointed four of its members to comprise The Bowerman Men's Watch Committee and another four of its members to make up The Bowerman Women's Watch Committee. The men's watch committee will release their next name ten semifinalists for the award on Monday, June 20. On July 13, The Bowerman Advisory Board will release the names of the three finalists.
Claye is the Southeastern Conference Men's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year for the 2011 campaign. Claye claimed an impressive double win at the SEC Outdoor Championships, becoming the first athlete since Auburn's Leevan Sands in 2004 to win both the men's long jump and the men's triple jump at that meet. Claye has personal-best marks of 8.29m/27-2.50 (long jump) and 17.24m/56-6.75 (triple jump) and will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in both events.
Demps is the national leader in the men's 100-meter dash with a time of 9.96 (+2.4). Demps is the anchor of Florida's SEC Champion 4x100-meter relay team that ran the fastest time in the nation this season at 38.53. He will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in both events.
Taylor finished the 2011 regular season with top-10 national marks in the 400m, long jump and triple jump. He set the SEC meet record in the men's triple jump with a personal-best and school-record mark of 17.15m/56-3.25. He also is the second leg of Florida's 4x100-meter relay and runs on the Gators' 4x400-meter relay. Taylor has a season-best long-jump mark of 8.00m/26-3. He will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the long jump, triple jump, 4x100m and 4x400m.
The Gators return to action June 8-11, when they participate in the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
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.
THE BOWERMAN OFFICIAL WATCH LIST (2011 MEN)
| NAME | YEAR | SCHOOL | EVENTS | HOMETOWN |
| Jeshua Anderson | SR | Washington State | Hurdles | Woodland Hills, Calif. |
| Miles Batty | JR | BYU | Distance | Sandy, Utah |
| Sam Chelanga | RS SR | Liberty | Distance | Nairobi, Kenya |
| Will Claye | JR | Florida | Jumps | Phoenix, Ariz. |
| Jeff Demps | SO/JR | Florida | Sprints | Winter Garden, Fla. |
| Kirani James | SO | Alabama | Sprints | Gouyave, Grenada |
| Ngonidzashe Makusha | JR | Florida State | Jumps/Sprints | Zimbabwe |
| Omo Osaghae | SR | Texas Tech | Hurdles | Lubbock, Texas |
| Mookie Salaam | JR | Oklahoma | Sprints | Edmond, Okla. |
| Christian Taylor | JR | Florida | Jumps | Fayetteville, Ga. |
