There’s little doubt that Christopher Morales Williams of Vaughan, Ont., has had an unforgettable season competing for the College of Georgia Bulldogs within the NCAA. Morales Williams has received NCAA 400m titles (each indoors and open air), set world and Canadian data and received 13 of his 14 races. Now, the 19-year-old has been named a finalist for one of the crucial prestigious awards in collegiate athletics–The Bowerman Award.
Listed here are the Males’s Finalists for The Bowerman in 2024!
Allow them to know, @RGIII!
🔗 https://t.co/HqGkFyxMkd pic.twitter.com/YKNJoeAbx0
— The Bowerman (@thebowerman) June 25, 2024
The Bowerman Award is the very best accolade given to the very best annual observe and area athletes (female and male) within the NCAA, chosen by the U.S. Observe & Area and Cross Nation Coaches Affiliation (USTFCCCA).
Morales Williams had three performances beneath 44.50 seconds within the 400m occasion, main him to NCAA 400m titles in each indoor and outside seasons. Notably, his 44.05 clocking to win the SEC title locations him sixth on the all-time 400m chart. Indoors, Morales Williams made headlines by clocking an all-time world better of 44.49 seconds, taking down a mark previously held by 2022 world champion Michael Norman. His efficiency was initially a world indoor file, however later deemed not ratifiable as a result of the meet didn’t have electric-timing beginning blocks to measure response time.
He additionally broke Canadian nationwide data for the 400m (indoors and open air), each of which had stood for greater than 15 years. That is the second yr in a row that an athlete from Georgia has been a finalist for The Bowerman (Kyle Garland was a finalist final yr).
Morales Williams advised Canadian Working that he’s honoured to be nominated for such a prestigious award: “I heard about it for the primary time final yr when my teammate, Kyle, received. It’s such a tough award to win—it’s important to have an ideal season.”
Morales Williams put the cap on his “excellent season” on the 2024 NCAA Championships the place he turned the primary Canadian to win a collegiate 400m title in 84 years. He’s considered one of three athletes nominated for the award. The opposite nominees are American hurdler Caleb Dean of Texas Tech College (60m and 110m hurdles) and German decathlete Leo Neugebauer of the College of Texas. Neugebauer is the NCAA champion within the decathlon, the place he turned simply the seventh man in historical past to eclipse 8,900 factors along with his 8,961-point complete on the 2024 NCAA Observe and Area Championships in Oregon.
Since its introduction in 2009, the award has been received twice by a Canadian NCAA athlete. Though Canadian marathon file holder Cam Levins received the award in 2012 with Southern Utah College and 2016 Olympic excessive bounce champion Derek Drouin received it with the College of Indiana in 2013, it has by no means been received by a Canadian sprinter.
The 22 winners of the award have received a mixed 16 Olympic and 60 World Athletics Championship medals. Moreover, the finalists of the award have received a mixed 14 Olympic and 54 World Athletics Championship medals.
Fan voting for The Bowerman begins Tuesday, June 25 on The Bowerman’s web site and runs by way of Thursday, June 27. The winner of the award will probably be introduced through the annual USTFCCCA assembly in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 19.
