The indoor track season is getting ready to pick up as the calendar turns to the new year. Yet, it's never a bad time to look ahead at who could be some of the best individuals in the sport. Here are some way-too-early women's Bowerman frontrunners that could lift the trophy in a little less than a year from now.
10 way-too-early women's Bowerman frontrunners
Athletes are listed alphabetically by last name, not ranked.
Alia Armstrong | LSU
2023 was one of the best years women's collegiate hurdling has ever seen and we saw some great races, including the outdoor SEC championship 100 hurdles where Alia Armstrong knocked off the collegiate record holder and eventual NCAA champion. Armstrong returns in 2024, now two years removed from her NCAA title in 2022. If Armstrong can continue to build on the excitement created by the hurdles last year and return atop the podium, she could be a Bowerman winner.
Lamara Distin | Texas A&M
Lamara Distin has won four of the last five high jump NCAA titles and sits fourth all-time in the high jump record books. If Distin can rediscover her winning way and finally break the long-attempted two-meter mark in the high jump, she'll have a strong Bowerman case.
BIG NAMES: 50 returning stars for the 2024 collegiate track season
JaMeesia Ford | South Carolina
JaMeesia Ford is only a freshman, but she already looks like a star after running the second-fastest 300-meter race in collegiate history at her season opener. The only sprinter faster? Kentucky's Abby Steiner in her 2022 Bowerman winning season. That could be a sign of great things to come for Ford.
ICYMI: 10 NCAA indoor track and field performances you may have missed from December
Charity Griffith | Kentucky
If Lamara Distin makes this list, Charity Griffith — the woman who ended her title streak — has to be on here. Griffith transferred from Ball State to Kentucky this offseason and with more success at her new home, she could bring home the second Bowerman for the Wildcats.
PORTAL: Tracking the top NCAA track and field transfers
McKenzie Long | Ole Miss
McKenzie Long emerged as one of the top sprinters in the country last year. Only eventual Bowerman winner Julien Alfred ran faster than Long across 100 meters during the 2023 regular season. Long returns in 2024 as arguably the top returning women's sprinter across 60, 100 and 200 meters, putting her in the early Bowerman conversation.
THE BOWERMAN:
Olivia Markezich | Notre Dame (3000m and steeplechase record)
Olivia Markezich opened her 2024 season with the second-fastest 3000m time in NCAA history and already owns the third-fastest 3000m steeplechase time in NCAA history. If Markezich can break one or both of these records and win NCAA titles, she could be this year's Bowerman winner.
MUST-WATCH: The top indoor track and field meets to watch in 2024
Michaela Rose | LSU
Michaela Rose was a Bowerman semifinalist after winning the outdoor 800-meter NCAA title. Rose ran the second-fastest time ever at 1:59.08 last year, only behind 2021's Bowerman winner Athing Mu. If Rose can break Mu's record, she could also prove worthy of lifting the Bowerman.
RECORDS: Every collegiate track and field record broken in 2024
Ackelia Smith | Texas
Ackelia Smith has been the best horizontal jumper not named Jasmine Moore since she began her college career two years ago. Smith beat Moore — a 2023 Bowerman finalist — for the outdoor long jump title last year. With Moore turned pro and Smith back in Austin with another year of experience, the Longhorn could be the latest horizontal jumper to grace the Bowerman stage, especially if she can win titles in the long jump and triple jump in 2024.
WINNER: The top moments from Bowerman winner Julien Alfred's 2023 season
Grace Stark | Florida
A healthy offseason could see the re-emergence of Grace Stark as one of the top sprinters and hurdlers in the sport. In 2023, Stark finished 5th in the 100 hurdles after recovering from an injury for much of the year. In 2022, Stark won the 60 hurdle title and was on the Bowerman watch list before an injury cut short her outdoor season. Now almost two years removed from the injury, Stark should be back in Bowerman contention.
SPRING TIME: Here's when the 2024 outdoor track and field season starts
Parker Valby | Florida
Parker Valby was the first women's runner to set a collegiate record this season, doing so in her indoor opener in December. With one collegiate record in the book, Valby is off to a great start for a possible Bowerman.
🧠 WHAT TO KNOW: Wind and scoring explained | Greatest venues | Best uniforms | The difference between indoor and outdoor seasons
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