Vollmer, Bartnovskaya Earn Spots on Bowerman Watch List
NEW ORLEANS – Kansas track & field’s national champion heptathlete, Lindsay Vollmer, is one of 10 athletes named to the preseason Bowerman Watch List as was released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Thursday. Pole vaulter Natalia Bartnovskaya also finds her name on the prestigious list, as she was placed on the “Also Receiving Votes List.” The Bowerman Award, considered the ‘Heisman of Track & Field,’ is given to the nation’s top male and female track & field athletes and will be awarded later this year.
The junior, Vollmer, sees her name on the Watch List for the first time in her career and is the second Jayhawk in as many years to claim a spot on the preseason list after Diamond Dixon earned the honor last January. Vollmer became the first female in Kansas track & field history to win an individual outdoor national championship after she claimed the NCAA heptathlon title last June in Eugene, Ore. The Hamilton, Mo., native also swept the conference combined events a year ago, winning the indoor pentathlon and the outdoor heptathlon at the respective Big 12 Championship meets. Vollmer holds school records in both events and her NCAA-winning heptathlon score of 6,086 points was the top mark in the nation in 2013.
Bartnovskaya, now a senior, was also an NCAA Champion in 2013, winning the indoor pole vault title in Fayetteville, Ark., last March. She holds the school records in both the indoor and outdoor pole vault, both set at the respective NCAA Championships last season, with the prior earning her the national championship in the event. The Krasnoyarsk, Russia native’s indoor record made her the No. 8 vaulter in NCAA history, while her outdoor mark earned her a runner-up finish at the national meet in June.
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. Past winners include Olympic gold medalist and decathlon world-record holder Ashton Eaton (2010), 10,000-meter Olympic silver medalist Galen Rupp (2009), and 2011 IAAF World Champion in the 1,500 meters, Jenny Simpson (2009). For more information on The Bowerman, the award, the trophy and Bill Bowerman himself, visit TheBowerman.org.
Both Vollmer and Bartnovskaya will be in action Friday, Jan. 10 at the Bill Easton Classic inside Anschutz Pavilion. The day’s events are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and conclude at 8:30 p.m. Updates and results from the meet can be found at KUAthletics.com and on Twitter at @KUTrack.
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