Seniors Fred Kerley and Lindon Victor were named finalists for the Bowerman Award Thursday afternoon. The award is presented annually by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track and field athletes in the nation. Tennessee’s Christian Coleman is the third finalist.
The Bowerman Award winner will be announced at the USTFCCCA Convention in Phoenix, Ariz. on Dec. 15.
It is the first time that two men’s athletes from the same school have been named finalists since 2010. Kerley and Victor will seek to become the third Aggie to win the prestigious award, as Jessica Beard (2011) and Deon Lendore (2014) have each been bestowed the honor for A&M.
Throughout their seasons, both Kerley and Victor set collegiate records and won several national titles.
Kerley broke a 25-year-old 400m collegiate record set by USC’s Quincy Watts, running a 43.70 at the NCAA West Prelims. Earlier in the season, Kerley set a new SEC meet record with a 44.09 in the prelims and went on to win in the finals with a time of 44.30. The previous record of 44.29 was set back in 1999. Along with his indoor NCAA title this year, Kerley claimed the outdoor NCAA title with a 44.10 in Eugene, Ore.
Kerley holds six of the top 10 performances on the 2017 world list, including the first three fastest times this year. He also holds five of the top 10 performances on the collegiate all-time list.
Kerley was also part of collegiate record-setting performances in the 4×400 and sprint medley relays this season. During indoors, Kerley lead off for the Aggies in the 4×400 and split 44.96 as Texas A&M went on to set the collegiate record of 3:02.52. At the SEC Relays, he ran the opening 200m leg of the sprint medley relay where the Aggies ran a collegiate best 3:11.94.
Running anchor for Texas A&M at this year’s NCAA Championships, Kerley helped Texas A&M run two sub-three-minute 4×400 races. He split 43.96 on a 2:59.95 semifinal and 43.99 on a 2:59.98 final as they went on to claim the 4×400 national title. It was the first time a single school produced two performances under three minutes at the NCAA Championships.
Victor, who was named National Field Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA for the second consecutive year, had a stellar season of his own.
The senior broke the collegiate decathlon record twice in 2017. The first came at the Texas Relays where he surpassed Longhorn Trey Hardee’s 2006 record by seven points, scoring 8,472, and became the first Aggie to win the meet. He bettered his own record and defended his title later in the season at the SEC Championships where he scored 8,539 points.
In his final collegiate meet, Victor became only the fifth athlete to successfully defend an NCAA decathlon title, scoring 8,390 points. He is the current record holder in his native Grenada and is third all-time on the Central American/Caribbean list.