On Wednesday, the NCAA’s top track and field athletes were named semi-finalists for The Bowerman Award–the highest accolade in collegiate athletics. Among the 10 men and 10 women selected, there was one lone Canadian: the University of Michigan 400m hurdles NCAA champion, Savannah Sutherland.
Could the Borden, Sask., native become the first Canadian to win since Olympic bronze medallist Derek Drouin in 2013?
The Bowerman Award is presented annually to the most exceptional male and female track and field athletes in the NCAA. It’s named after legendary Oregon coach and co-founder of Nike, Bill Bowerman.
Sutherland first appeared on The Bowerman watch list in January, ahead of the 2025 season. She remained on the list into February, following back-to-back program record-breaking runs over 200m (23.49 and 23.26).
After her outdoor campaign, Sutherland’s spot as a semi-finalist came as no surprise. In May, the 21-year-old won her third-straight Big Ten conference title in the 400m hurdles. A month later, she captured her second NCAA 400m hurdles title (she also won in 2023). Sutherland clocked a blistering 52.46 seconds, breaking her own Canadian record and taking down world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s previous NCAA record of 52.75 seconds in the process.
In one race, Sutherland set a new NCAA record, NCAA Championship record, Big Ten record, University of Michigan program record and Canadian record. Combine that with her Olympic seventh-place finish in Paris last summer, and she’s taking “rewriting the record books” to a whole new level.
Sutherland is the only University of Michigan athlete to achieve Bowerman semi-finalist status.
Sutherland’s top competition for the award includes the University of Alabama’s Doris Lemngole, the 2025 NCAA 3,000m steeplechase champion, and Pamela Kosgei of the University of New Mexico, who swept the 5,000m and 10,000m titles.
Last year’s honour went to six-time NCAA champion Parker Valby.
A near-win for Morales Williams
Vaughan, Ont.’s Christopher Morales Williams came close to winning The Bowerman in 2024 after a dominant indoor and outdoor season, where he won NCAA both 400m titles, set world and Canadian records and won 13 of his 14 races. Despite being named one of three finalists, he was ultimately edged out by German decathlete Leo Neugebauer of the University of Texas.
The three Bowerman finalists for the 2025 award will be announced on July 7, with the official winners revealed in December.
