The Bowerman: 2025 Women’s Pre-Outdoor Conference Championships Watch List

NEW ORLEANS – It continues to be busy at the top of numerous all-time collegiate lists as competition heats up for The Bowerman.

The Women’s Pre-Outdoor Conference Championships Watch List – released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) – includes three recent collegiate record setters along with two others moving to No. 2 just in the last three weeks.

Two athletes – Silan Ayyildiz of Oregon and Michaela Rose of LSU – rejoin the Watch List in joining eight others repeating: Aaliyah Butler of Georgia, Rachel Glenn of Arkansas, Brynn King of Roberts Wesleyan, Pamela Kosgei of New Mexico, Doris Lemngole of Alabama, Indya Mayberry of TCU, Amanda Moll of Washington and Jayden Ulrich of Louisville.

For the first time this year, none of the athletes makes a debut Watch List appearance. And for the first time since February 2020 no program has multiple athletes on the Watch List.

The Bowerman 2025 will be awarded in December at the USTFCCCA Convention in Grapevine, Texas.

Ayyildiz, who hails from Istanbul, Turkey, waited until mid-April to begin her outdoor season and – after a PR 2:03.11 to win the 800 at the Oregon Team Invitational – added a third CR to her 2025 campaign. That came in the invitational mile at the Drake Relays, where her 4:25.50 as the top collegian chopped more than three seconds off the CR that had stood since 1987. Indoors she claimed two CRs in one race at February’s David Hemery Valentine Invitational with a 4:23.46 mile that included an en route time of 4:05.66 in the 1500 meters. She was instrumental in another indoor CR, bringing Oregon from third place to victory in the distance medley relay a week later at the Terrier DMR Challenge with a 4:26.46 anchor for 1600 meters as the Ducks ran 10:42.05. This is her second Watch List appearance.

Butler, who hails from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, didn’t run her specialty – the 400 – outdoors until mid-April, and it was worth the wait as she won the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational in 49.44 to move to No. 5 on the all-time collegiate outdoor list. She won the race by 0.81 seconds in shaving 0.27 seconds off her previous best, which garnered her runner-up honors at last year’s NCAA DI Outdoor Championships. She twice dipped under 50 seconds indoors and has yet to lose a one-lap race head-to-head this year. This is her fifth Watch List appearance.

Glenn, who hails from Long Beach, California, added her first outdoor high jump of the year in winning the LSU Invitational at 1.89m (6-2¼) to defeat Georgia’s Elena Kulichenko, the NCAA DI co-champ indoors and last year outdoors. That was two weeks after a PR 53.48 in the 400-meter hurdles at the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational, finishing second by just 0.02 seconds to reigning NCAA DI champ Savannah Sutherland of Michigan in moving to No. 6 all-time collegiately. Indoors she was the season’s highest jumper at 1.98m (6-6) – tied for the No. 3 performance all-time indoors (she has a share of Collegiate Record at 2.00m/6-6¾ from last year). This is her 11th Watch List appearance.

King, who hails from The Woodlands, Texas, hasn’t competed since April 13, winning the SUNY Brockport Invitational at 4.50m (14-9) before missing three attempts to raise her then-CR of 4.75m (15-7) set at the Texas Relays. Combining indoors and outdoors she has won 10 of the 11 meets she’s entered this year. King, who is a three-time NCAA DII pole vault champion, is the only DII vaulter ever to clear 15 feet (4.57m), doing so collegiately in 10 different meets including last year. This is her second Watch List appearance.

Kosgei, who hails from Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya, added two more notable performances since her six-day double in late-March/early-April made her No. 2 collegian all-time in the steeplechase (9:15.93) and 10,000 (31:02.73). She nailed another No. 2 all-time collegiate performance in winning the 5000 meters at the Bryan Clay Invitational with her 14:52.45 missing the CR by just 0.27 seconds. Then a week later she won 10,000 at the Don Kirby Tailwind Twilight by over five minutes in 31:58.51 – at 5120 feet (1560 meters) of altitude in Albuquerque, New Mexico in registering the fastest time for any woman at high altitude outside of Africa. Indoors she was third in the NCAA DI 5000 before taking 11th in the 3000. This is her second Watch List appearance.

Lemngole, who hails from West Pokot County, Kenya, ran her first steeplechase of the year and promptly lowered her own CR by over five seconds in winning the Wake Forest Invitational by over 17 seconds in 9:10.13. That was a week after her only other outdoor race this year – a PR in the 1500 at 4:09.28 while winning the Crimson Tide Invitational by over nine seconds. Indoors she had a pair of notable 5000-meter races – the first in a CR 14:52.57 in early December and the other in mid-March to win the NCAA DI Indoor title in 15:05.93, the No. 9 all-time performance collegiately. She was also runner-up in the 3000 at the NCAA DI Indoor after earlier moving to No. 5 on the all-time collegiate list at 8:41.83. This is her sixth Watch List appearance.

Mayberry, who hails from Allen, Texas, has seen limited action since a pair of winning performances at the Texas Relays, where her rocket opening leg in the 4×100 relay helped TCU win in 42.87 before returning to take the 100 in a wind-aided 10.91 that leads all collegians this year. Most recently, she anchored TCU’s 4×100 to an easy 43.53 victory in the Horned Frog Invitational. In the winter she won the 200 at the NCAA DI Indoor Championships in 22.30 to become No. 4 all-time collegiately after earlier placing fourth in the 60 (in which she clocked a PR 7.11 earlier in the season). This is her third Watch List appearance.

Moll, who hails from Olympia, Washington, is back at setting CRs, adding the outdoor version at 4.76m (14-7¼) to win the Desert Heat Classic. That was just the second outdoor competition for her this year after a busy indoor season that saw her raise the indoor CR four times, ultimately with first absolute collegiate 16-foot performance at 4.91m (16-1¼). She won the NCAA DI Indoor title with a meet record 4.70m (15-5) and finished the undercover season with six of the top-8 all-time performances collegiately. This is her fourth Watch List appearance.

Rose, who hails from Suffolk, Virginia, won her first 800s of the outdoor season, topped by a PR 1:58.12 to take the LSU Invitational by over four seconds. That improved her standing at No. 2 all-time collegiately, behind only the 1:57.73 CR by 2021 The Bowerman winner Athing Mu as she now owns five of the top-7 collegiate performances all-time. Her other outdoor 800 this spring was a 2:00.22 victory at the Bryan Clay Invitational a day before lowering her 1500 PR to 4:10.38. Indoors she was fourth at the NCAA DI Indoor and had a seasonal best of 2:00.25. This is her 11th Watch List appearance, making her the active career leader.

Ulrich, who hails from East Alton, Illinois, has competed twice since making her debut on the last Watch List, sweeping the shot and discus titles easily at the Jim Freeman/Clark Wood Open. Earlier this spring she moved to No. 2 on the all-time collegiate discus list at 69.39m (227-8) to win the World Throws Invitational B section; that followed a then-PR victory at the South Florida Alumni Invitational three weeks earlier at 66.63m (218-7). She was NCAA DI runner-up last year before making the U.S. Olympic team for the Paris Olympics. In the shot put she has gone 18.52m (60-9¼) this spring – her outdoor best is 18.66m (61-2¾) from last year – and was fifth in the NCAA DI Indoor in March. This is her second Watch List appearance.

Six more athletes received votes from The Bowerman Watch List Committee but fell outside the Top 10: Margot Appleton of Virginia, Lianna Davidson of Georgia, JaMeesia Ford of South Carolina, Lexy Halladay-Lowry of BYU, Jadin O’Brien of Notre Dame and Manuela Rotundo of Georgia.

The next women’s Watch List is scheduled for May 21.