The Bowerman: 2021 Women's Pre-NCAA Indoor Championships Watch List

NEW ORLEANS – After a breathtaking weekend of activity, three new names are on the Women’s Pre-NCAA Indoor Championships Watch List for The Bowerman.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) released the latest Women’s Watch List on Wednesday. Thirteen athletes received votes, with the top-10 comprising the Watch List.
Joyce Kimeli of Auburn, Abby Steiner of Kentucky and Courtney Wayment of BYU are the newest additions to the Watch List. They join a group of seven returners in Chanel Brissett of Texas, Tyra Gittens of Texas A&M, Anna Hall of Georgia, Tonea Marshall of LSU, Athing Mu of Texas A&M, Twanisha (TeeTee) Terry of Southern California and Ruth Usoro of Texas Tech.

Brissett, who hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the veteran of the group, at least in terms of Watch List appearances: This is her 10th time, beginning with the Watch List at this same point in the 2019 season. She’s never been faster in the 60-meter hurdles, moving into a tie for No. 8 on the all-time collegiate list in winning the Big 12 Championships in 7.89.
Gittens, who hails from Nashville, Tennessee, leads two events nationally – the pentathlon with 4612 points (No. 3 all-time) and the high jump at 1.91m (6-3¼). She is the only woman in the top-5 in three individual championship events, adding a long jump best of 6.62m (21-8¾). Gittens earned high-point honors at the SEC Championships, anchored by victories in the high jump and long jump.
Hall, who hails from Highlands Ranch, Colorado, won a highly anticipated SEC pentathlon clash with Gittens, giving her two 4500+ scores this year. Her best tally of 4590 makes her No. 4 all-time, and she moved up the high jump list by clearing 1.89m (6-2¼), tied for second best in the nation.
Kimeli, who hails from Eldoret, Kenya, lands on the Watch List for the first time after a pair of titles with PRs in the SEC Championships – the 3000 and 5000 meters. Her time in the 3K (8:56.02) is the nation’s fastest this year on a legal-sized track. Kimeli is the third woman from Auburn to make the Watch List, and the first since 2011.
Marshall, who hails from Arlington, Texas, only has outdoor eligibility this year, but a pair of sub-7.90 hurdle clockings indoors shows she’s in prime shape when she can wear LSU colors again. Her best this winter of 7.86 matches her PR set as a collegian last year, then tying for No. 3 on the all-time list.
Mu, who hails from Trenton, New Jersey, continues to rewrite the record books. Her latest chapter was a thriller, thrashing the collegiate record by winning the SEC Championships in 1:58.40 – not just the first sub-2 time ever indoors, but also faster than the outdoor CR of 1:59.10 (held by a former winner of The Bowerman, Raevyn Rogers). Two weeks earlier Mu anchored the Aggies to a CR in the 4×400 relay with a 50.27 split. Earlier this season Mu clocked a CR in the 600 at 1:25.80 plus the nation’s fastest 400 of 50.52 (No. 4 all-time).
Steiner, who hails from Dublin, Ohio, might be new to the Watch List but she has a comfort zone in the 200 meters … It is well below sub-23. She found rare territory at the SEC Championships – sub-22.50, and at 22.41 she crept within 0.03 seconds of the CR in the preliminaries. She added a 51.41 split on the Wildcats’ 4 x 400 team. Steiner’s presence on the Watch List is the first for a UK Wildcat since the pair of Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Sydney McLaughlin made it together in 2018.
Terry, who hails from Miami, Florida, bettered her national-leading mark in the 60 to 7.13 at the Texas Tech Shootout. She owns the season’s two fastest times, having also run 7.14 in January.
Usoro, who hails from Akwa Ibom, Nigeria, registered a pair of all-time list makers in winning the long jump and triple jump at the Big 12 Championships. In the TJ she improved her No. 2 position to 14.36m (47-1½) to become just the second collegian to travel more than 47 feet (The other was Keturah Orji, winner of The Bowerman in 2018). On her final attempt in the long jump, she not only took the lead but crossed the 22-foot barrier at 6.82m (22-4½), but was good enough to rate No. 6 on the all-time indoor list.
Wayment, who hails from Layton, Utah, blistered the oval at The Dempsey over the weekend with the fastest mile time of the year at 4:30.47. That added to a resume that also includes the nation’s fastest 3000-meter performance of 8:54.90. Both marks make her No. 2 all-time for BYU, each time behind Whittni Orton, the last Cougar woman to make the Watch List.
Other athletes receiving votes from The Bowerman Watch List Committee but falling just outside the Top 10 are Julien Alfred of Texas, Angie Annelus of Southern California and Samantha Noennig of Arizona State.
The next Women’s Watch List is scheduled to be released on March 24.