Kerr Named to The Bowerman Mid-Outdoor Watch List
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — University of New Mexico track & field student-athlete Josh Kerr captured a spot on The Bowerman Men’s Mid-Outdoor Watch List, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Thursday.
Kerr, a three-time NCAA champion and back-to-back NCAA mile titlist, is one of 10 men selected to the Mid-Outdoor Watch List, which is the fifth such list in 2018 for The Bowerman, the highest individual honor in collegiate track & field.
Although Kerr has yet to compete during the 2018 outdoor track & field season — he opens this Friday at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California — he has cemented himself as one of the elite middle-distance runners in the NCAA.
The first male athlete to win back-to-back NCAA mile crowns since former Lobo Lee Emanuel (2009-10), Kerr defended his upstart win from 2017 with a gusty victory last month at the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas. He won the race in 3 minutes, 57.02 seconds.
He is just the ninth male athlete to win consecutive national championships in the mile run over the 53-year history of the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Kerr also rewrote the record books in February, as he ran a personal-record time of 3:54.72 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.
That 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 at the 2017 Bryan Clay Invitational to rank No. 6 in NCAA history. Kerr’s time sits just .69 seconds off Sydney Maree’s 37-year-old NCAA record in the 1500.
Kerr also owns the New Mexico and Mountain West records in both the mile run and the 1500.
Additionally, Kerr won his second straight Mountain West mile title and anchored UNM’s distance medley relay team to its second consecutive win at the MW Indoor Championships in February.
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 have still led 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.
Over his career (spanning four MW Championships), Kerr has amassed seven total MW titles.
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 Post-Indoor Watch List member for the men’s Bowerman are Akeem Bloomfield (Auburn), Denzel Comenentia (Georgia), Elijah Hall (Houston), Grant Holloway (Florida), Devin King (Southeastern Louisiana), Justyn Knight (Syracuse), John Kyriazis (Texas A&M), Michael Norman (USC) 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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