Fred Kerley, Lindon Victor await announcement of Bowerman Award winner

PHOENIX, Arizona – Texas A&M seniors Fred Kerley and Lindon Victor, two of the three men's finalists for the 2017 Bowerman Award, will find out if either has been selected as the winner of the annual honor during a ceremony held on Friday evening during the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association convention.
 
The Bowerman Award has been presented annually since 2009 by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track and field athletes in the nation. A live stream of the event is available via the USTFCCCA Facebook account at 8 p.m. (CT), as well as through Flotrack.org, with a red carpet question-and-answer session starting at 7 p.m.
 
Tennessee's Christian Coleman, the NCAA Indoor 60m and 200m winner as well as NCAA Outdoor 100m and 200m champion, joins the pair of Aggies among the three men's finalists, guaranteeing a SEC winner of the men's award for the fourth consecutive year as well as the fifth honoree from the conference among the nine times the Bowerman has been presented.
 
"This is a major award for track and field and with two of the three finalists for the men's honor being Aggies it's a testament to how good those two guys are," said Texas A&M head coach Pat Henry. "They're both as good as there has ever been in this sport, at this level, for sure. All three finalists are very deserving and it will be a tough decision on who wins the award.
 
"Lindon and Fred are extremely hard workers, dedicated to the sport from the nth degree. It's just not about Fred running fast or doing everything that Lindon does in every event, it's about a certain lifestyle. How you eat, sleep and operate your life. Both of these guys did a tremendous job and I think they will as professionals."
 
With the addition of Kerley and Victor, the Aggies have had six finalists over the past nine years of the award. Texas A&M athletes who have previously won the Bowerman award include Jessica Beard (2011) and Deon Lendore (2014) while Aggie finalists have included Porscha Lucas (2009) and Donavan Brazier (2016).
 
Amid stellar senior campaigns that produced multiple collegiate records by Kerley and Victor, this marks the first time two athletes from the same school were among the finalists for the Bowerman since 2010. In addition to collegiate record performances, the exceptional 2017 campaigns for Kerley and Victor also included individual conference and national titles along with a NCAA Indoor team championship and SEC Outdoor team title.
 
"Neither one are huge talkers," noted Henry. "They're winners by what they do and others watch what they do. Their actions speak much louder than anything they can say. Both are very humble guys, they've studied the sport and can talk anytime about anything associated with this sport."
 
Kerley, of Taylor, Texas, broke the collegiate record in the 400m with a time of 43.70 seconds to eclipse the previous standard of 44.00 set in 1992 by USC's Quincy Watts. Kerley also bettered the SEC meet record of 44.29 set in 1999 with a 44.09 during the prelims of the conference meet and claimed the final in 44.30. During the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Kerley posted a time of 44.10 in claiming the national title as he recorded the second fastest time in meet history.
 
"I work with Fred and we spent a whole year in his junior season just trying to get healthy and do the things that it took to produce what he was able to in his senior season," said Henry. "Sure enough, since he's such a hard worker, he was able to accomplish a lot this past season."
 
Victor, of St. Georges, Grenada, broke the collegiate record in the decathlon twice this season. In late March he became the first Aggie to win the Texas Relays decathlon title, producing a score of 8,472 points that bettered the meet and collegiate record of 8,465 set by Trey Hardee of Texas in 2006.
 
In defending his SEC decathlon title, Victor improved his conference meet record from 2016 and bettered his collegiate record to a score of 8,539 points. Then a total of 8,390 points secured his second NCAA decathlon title, where he just came up short of the meet record of 8,457 points established by Ashton Eaton in 2010.
 
"The major accomplishment for Lindon was staying healthy throughout the season and that sends a good message to him and how he moves forward in the sport," stated Henry. "He had to work awfully hard to accomplish the goals he achieved. Those were goals he set for himself. He wanted to be the collegiate record holder and worked hard to accomplish that goal."
 
Track & Field News selected Kerley as its outdoor Collegiate Athlete of the Year, noting the international impact of Kerley's then world-leading time of 43.70 seconds, backed up by times of 44.09 and 44.10, as the deciding factor.
 
Since the first Bowerman Award was presented in 2009, which includes the indoor and outdoor collegiate season in its criteria, the outdoor Collegiate Athlete of the Year named by Track & Field News has coincided with the Bowerman winner on five of eight occasions for both the men and women.
 
Kerley also earned the fan vote for the Bowerman Award, joining accolades garnered by Texas A&M's Deon Lendore and Jessica Beard when they were awarded the Bowerman.
 
A pair of collegiate records in such a demanding event, along with three scores over 8,350 points in one season, made Victor an overwhelming favorite in being selected the National Field Athlete of the Year for a second consecutive season amid voting by coaches within the USTFCCCA.
 
On the way to breaking the collegiate record in the decathlon twice this season, Victor also established the collegiate best score for the first day and second day of the decathlon.
 
During the Texas Relays, Victor amassed 4,516 points on the first day to better the previous mark of 4,500 set by Ashton Eaton of Oregon in 2010. During the SEC Championships, a second day score of 4,174 bettered the previous mark of 4,145 set by Jake Arnold (Arizona) in 2007.
 
In completing an undefeated season in the 400m with NCAA indoor and outdoor titles, Kerley became the first sprinter to ever run under 44 seconds during a collegiate season. His 43.70 during the NCAA West preliminary round ranks seventh on the all-time world list and sixth on the all-time U.S. list.
 
Some of the legendary names Kerley passed on the global all-time list includes the following Olympic medalists – 43.81 Danny Everett (1992, bronze medal in 1988), 43.86 Lee Evans (1968 gold medal), 43.87 Steve Lewis (1988 gold medal), and 43.97 Larry James (1968 silver medal).
 
As the American leader this season, Kerley's top performance ranks second on the 2017 world list. Among U.S. sprinters in 2017 his list of impressive performances ranked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7. Kerley also posted five of the top 10 performances on the collegiate all-time list. With his collegiate record ranking No. 1, Kerley also has positions 3, =4, 6 and 10.
 
Indoors, Kerley was an integral part of the Aggie 4x400 relay in setting a collegiate record of 3:02.52, supplying a 44.96 split as the opening leg, as well as a collegiate all-time best of 3:02.39 to win the SEC title on an oversized track. Outdoors, Kerley supplied the opening leg of 200m on a collegiate record of 3:11.94 by Texas A&M in the sprint medley relay, which broke an Aggie school record of 3:15.10 that had been established in 1988.
 
In the 4x400 relay during NCAA Outdoor Championships, Kerley anchored the Aggies to a pair of sub-three-minute efforts as he split 43.96 on a 2:59.95 semifinal and then 43.99 on a 2:59.98 winning effort in the final. It was the first time one school has produced two performances under three minutes at the NCAA Championships.
 
Victor became just the fifth individual to successfully defend a NCAA decathlon title and on the all-time collegiate list his performances rank No. 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8. As the national record holder for his native Grenada, Victor ranks third on the all-time Central American/Caribbean list.
 
Victor also improved his collegiate best in the decathlon discus during the SEC meet to 181-2 (55.22) and improved his NCAA meet best in the discus to 174-11 (53.31). Victor generated the best score through nine events at the NCAA meet with 7,805 points to improve his tally of 7,723 from 2016.