Andrews Named Semifinalist for The Bowerman Award

Story Links

NEW ORLEANS – Virginia NCAA Champion Robby Andrews has been named one of 10 semifinalists for The Bowerman – collegiate track and field’s most prestigious award, as announced Monday by The Bowerman Men’s Watch List Committee in conjunction with the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Andrews, the 2010 NCAA Champion in the 800m indoors, claimed his second-ever national championship in the event at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The sophomore from Englishtown, N.J., won his first outdoor title with a memorable, come-from-behind 200-meter sprint to the finish. Sitting in last place at the 600-meter mark, Andrews used a 26.44-second final close to pass the entire field and grab the tape from UC Irvine’s Charles Jock by only four-hundredths of a second.

Andrews’ winning time of 1:44.71 equaled the best collegiate and current best American mark of the year (Cory Primm, UCLA) and was one-hundredth of a second off from the NCAA meet record set by Florida’s Mark Everett in 1990.

Andrews was also a member of Virginia’s 4x800m relay team that won its second-straight Penn Relays Championship of America title. Andrews anchored the Cavaliers to victory in 7:12.15, marking the second-fastest time in the 117-year history of the Penn Relays and trailing only Penn State’s legendary meet record of 7:11.17 from 1985. That time also shattered Virginia’s 29-year-old school record, set at 7:14.64 in 1982 by John Hinton, Darrell Earman, Ray Brown and Theo Hodge, and finished the year as the top time in the NCAA this season. For his performance, Andrews was named the Penn Relays Men’s College Athlete of the Meet for Relay Events.

At the ACC Outdoor Championships, Andrews finished runner-up to Florida State’s Ciaran O’Lionaird in the 1500m with a time of 3:40.77. That mark ranks as the sixth-fastest time in the NCAA this year.

Andrews redshirted the indoor track and field season due to a nagging injury, but rabbited World Champion Bernard Lagat in his attempt at breaking the American record in the two mile. Andrews set the pace for the first 1200m of the race and saw Lagat break his fifth American record with a time of 8:10.07. His time bettered Doug Padilla’s former record of 8:15.02 from 1990.

With the collegiate season complete, the 10 semifinalists will be evaluated by the 10-person Bowerman Advisory Board and three finalists will be named from the group on Wednesday, July 13.

Men’s Top-10 Semifinalists for The Bowerman
NAME YEAR SCHOOL EVENTS HOMETOWN
Jeshua Anderson SR Washington State Hurdles Woodland Hills, Calif.
Robby Andrews SO Virginia Distance Englishtown, N.J.
Sam Chelanga R-SR Liberty Distance Nairobi, Kenya
Will Claye JR Florida Jumps Phoenix, Ariz.
Kirani James SO Alabama Sprints Gouyave, Grenada
Leonard Korir JR Iona Distance Iten, Kenya
Ngoni Makusha JR Florida State Jumps/Sprints Zimbabwe
Maurice Mitchell JR Florida State Sprints Kansas City, Mo.
Scott Roth SR Washington Pole Vault Granite Bay, Calif.
Christian Taylor JR Florida Jumps Fayetteville, Ga.