TicketsCINCINNATI - University of Cincinnati track and field senior Annette Echikunwoke, the defending national champion in the indoor weight throw, is accustomed to making history and added to her growing list of accomplishments Wednesday as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced she was named to the 2018 Women's Pre-NCAA Indoor Watch List for The Bowerman.
Echikunwoke is one of 10 women on the watch list that will eventually determine the recipient of The Bowerman, which is awarded each year to the top male and female collegiate athlete in NCAA track and field. The first national champion in program history at UC, Echikunwoke added another first as she becomes the first Bearcats student-athlete (man or woman) to be selected to The Bowerman Watch List since the award's inception in 2009.
The senior from Pickerington, Ohio, has had a stellar season as she recently swept both throwing events at the American Athletic Conference Championships in Birmingham, Ala., winning her third-consecutive weight throw crown while adding the shot put title with a meet-record throw. Her 20 points went a long way to helping the Bearcats win their first indoor conference title in women's program history as UC scored an AAC-record 147 points to win by an AAC-record 62-point margin. She now heads to her third-consecutive NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships looking for her second national crown as the holder of the #1 mark in the nation this year.
While her conference success was outstanding, her marks one week prior at the Buckeye Tune-Up in Columbus is what really turned heads and led her to The Bowerman Watch List. At the meet at Ohio State, she launched the 20-pound ball out to 24.78m (81-03.75) to record the longest throw in the nation and the longest in the NCAA since the 2008 season. That pushed her up to #2 on the all-time NCAA list as her mark measured out to the #4 performance in college history. She also moved into a tie for the #3 position on the all-time world listing.
Echikunwoke will join Loretta Blaut (high jump) and men's athletes Adrian Valles (pole vault) and Alex Bloom (heptathlon) at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships next week in College Station, Texas, as each will compete for a national title and USTFCCCA All-America honors. While Bloom will compete both Friday and Saturday (March 9-10), Blaut and Valles will take the stage Friday and Echikunwoke will look to defend her title Saturday.
Echikunwoke is one of 10 women on the watch list that will eventually determine the recipient of The Bowerman, which is awarded each year to the top male and female collegiate athlete in NCAA track and field. The first national champion in program history at UC, Echikunwoke added another first as she becomes the first Bearcats student-athlete (man or woman) to be selected to The Bowerman Watch List since the award's inception in 2009.
The senior from Pickerington, Ohio, has had a stellar season as she recently swept both throwing events at the American Athletic Conference Championships in Birmingham, Ala., winning her third-consecutive weight throw crown while adding the shot put title with a meet-record throw. Her 20 points went a long way to helping the Bearcats win their first indoor conference title in women's program history as UC scored an AAC-record 147 points to win by an AAC-record 62-point margin. She now heads to her third-consecutive NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships looking for her second national crown as the holder of the #1 mark in the nation this year.
While her conference success was outstanding, her marks one week prior at the Buckeye Tune-Up in Columbus is what really turned heads and led her to The Bowerman Watch List. At the meet at Ohio State, she launched the 20-pound ball out to 24.78m (81-03.75) to record the longest throw in the nation and the longest in the NCAA since the 2008 season. That pushed her up to #2 on the all-time NCAA list as her mark measured out to the #4 performance in college history. She also moved into a tie for the #3 position on the all-time world listing.
Echikunwoke will join Loretta Blaut (high jump) and men's athletes Adrian Valles (pole vault) and Alex Bloom (heptathlon) at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships next week in College Station, Texas, as each will compete for a national title and USTFCCCA All-America honors. While Bloom will compete both Friday and Saturday (March 9-10), Blaut and Valles will take the stage Friday and Echikunwoke will look to defend her title Saturday.