ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — University of New Mexico track & field student-athlete Josh Kerr captured a spot on The Bowerman Men’s Pre-NCAA Outdoor Championships Watch List, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced Monday.
Kerr, a three-time NCAA champion and back-to-back NCAA mile titlist, is one of 10 men selected to the Pre-NCAA Outdoor Championships Watch List, which is the eighth such list in 2018 for The Bowerman, the highest individual honor in collegiate track & field.
He is just one of three athletes to appear on all eight watch lists for The Bowerman in 2018.
Heading into his third-straight appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, Kerr has cemented himself as one of the elite middle-distance runners in the NCAA.
In April, Kerr set the NCAA record in the 1500-meter run at the Bryan Clay Invitational, clocking a time of 3 minutes, 35.01 seconds that broke Sydney Maree’s 36-year-old NCAA record of 3:35.30 set at the 1981 NCAA Championships.
His time also broke his own Mountain West and New Mexico record of 3:35.99 set at the 2017 Bryan Clay Invitational.
Between those two races, Kerr owns two of the eight fastest 1500-meter times in NCAA history. He is the only athlete with two times within the all-time top-10.
He has also placed within the top two in 11 straight 1500-meter races dating back to start of 2017 outdoor season, which includes a win at the NCAA West Preliminary Round two weeks ago in Sacramento, California.
During the indoor campaign, he also won his second straight national title in the mile run at March’s NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.
He is the first male athlete to win back-to-back NCAA mile crowns since former Lobo Lee Emanuel (2009-10) and 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-five in both the 1500 and the mile.
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, while adding his third straight MW crown in the 1500 at the MW Outdoor Championships earlier in the May.
At the MW Indoor 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 have still led the NCAA in 2018.
Kerr also anchored New Mexico’s DMR to a nation-leading time of 9:33.41 (9:24.73 converted) that led 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.
At the MW Outdoor Championships in Clovis, California, he became the first athlete in league history to win back-to-back-to-back 1500-meter titles when he clocked a time of 3:44.69.
Over his career (spanning five MW Championships), Kerr has amassed eight total MW titles.
Additionally, Kerr swept the USTFCCCA Mountain Region Athletes of the Year honors between indoor and outdoor track, becoming just the second athlete since 2010 to accomplish that.
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 Pre-NCAA Outdoor Championship Watch List member for the men’s Bowerman didn’t change from the previous release.
The athletes selected were Nathon Allen (Auburn), Rai Benjamin (USC), Gleb Dudarev (Kansas), Elijah Hall (Houston), Grant Holloway (Florida), Justyn Knight (Syracuse), Chris Nilsen (South Dakota), Michael Norman (USC) and Michael Saruni (UTEP).
Holloway and Knight are the only other athletes to appear on all eight watch lists for The Bowerman in 2018. Additionally, Kerr is the only male New Mexico athlete to appear on the any Watch List for The Bowerman.
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