Kerr Named to The Bowerman Pre-NCAA Watch List
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — University of New Mexico track & field student-athlete Josh Kerr captured a spot on The Bowerman Men’s Pre-NCAA 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. He also been named to the 2018 Preseason Watch List and 2018 Mid-Indoor Watch for The Bowerman, the highest individual honor in collegiate track & field.
Heading into next week’s NCAA Championships, Kerr has posted four sensational performances in 2018, 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 in early February, 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 fifth 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.
Kerr also 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 heads into the NCAA Championships as the No. 1 seed in the event as he looks to become the first the first athlete to win consecutive mile titles since Emanuel in 2009-10.
Additionally, Kerr won his second straight mile title and anchored New Mexico’s distance medley relay team to its second consecutive win last week at the Mountain West Championships.
He clocked a raw time of 4:00.62 in the finals, which converts down to a 3:55.38 when the NCAA altitude conversion is applied. That time, although not superior to his season best of 3:54.72, would still lead the NCAA this season.
Kerr also anchored New Mexico’s DMR to a nation-leading time of 9:33.41 (9:24.73 converted) that leads the NCAA by nearly a full second and set a Mountain West record.
That time is superior to the standing NCAA record of 9:25.97 when the altitude conversion is applied; however, the conversion is only used for NCAA qualification, not for official records.
Like in the mile, Kerr and the Lobos’ DMR are seeded No. 1 in the NCAA heading into the national championships.
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 Akeem Bloomfield (Auburn), Trey Culver (Texas Tech), Grant Holloway (Florida), Justyn Knight (Syracuse), John Kyriazis (Texas A&M), Chris Nilsen (South Dakota), Michael Norman (USC), 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.
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