ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — University of New Mexico track & field student-athlete Josh Kerr captured a spot on The Bowerman Men’s Mid-Indoor Watch List, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Thursday.
Kerr, a two-time NCAA champion and current NCAA leader in the mile run, is one of 10 men selected to the watch list, In January, he was named to the 2018 Preseason Watch List for The Bowerman, the highest individual honor in collegiate track & field.
So far this season, Kerr, a redshirt sophomore from Edinburgh, Scotland, has posted two sensational performances, building on his outstanding 2017 track campaign when he won the national titles in both the mile run and the 1,500-meter run.
Kerr’s best showing this season came last weekend, as he ran a personal-record time of 3 minutes, 54.72 seconds to place second in the elite Wanamaker Mile at the 2018 NYRR Millrose Games at The New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory in New York City.
His time makes him the fifth-fastest collegian in the mile run in NCAA history with the sixth-fastest mile time in NCAA history. His time also ranks third in the world in 2018.
Kerr is the only athlete in NCAA history to rank top-six in both the mile and its outdoor counterpart, the 1500. Kerr ran a time of 3:35.99 in the 1500 last spring to rank No. 6 in NCAA history.
Additionally, Kerr broke both Miles Batty’s Mountain West mile record (3:55.79) and the New Mexico mile record of 3:57.62 set by two-time NCAA champ Lee Emanuel in 2010.
He leads the NCAA in the mile this year by nearly a second, and leads the MW by nearly four seconds. His mile time also ranks fifth all-time by a British athlete.
Earlier this season at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Invitational, Kerr ran a time of 1:48.26 in the 800. That time ranks second in New Mexico history, while also leading the MW and sitting sixth in the NCAA this season.
The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation. Performances during the indoor track & field and outdoor track & field seasons count for the award; performances achieved in cross country are not considered.
The other nine Preseason Watch List member for the men’s Bowerman are KeAndre Bates (Florida), Trey Culver (Texas Tech), Jordan Geist (Arizona), Grant Holloway (Florida), Justyn Knight (Syracuse), John Kyriazis (Texas A&M), Chris Nilsen (South Dakota), Divine Oduduru (Texas Tech) and Michael Saruni (UTEP).
Kerr is the only male New Mexico athlete to appear on the any Watch List for The Bowerman.
On Wednesday, teammate Ednah Kurgat was named to The Bowerman Women’s Mid-Indoor Watch List, making UNM one of two schools (along with Texas A&M) with an athlete on both the men’s and women’s Mid-Indoor watch lists.
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