Track's Heisman Trophy

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association is holding its annual convention in San Antonio, Texas, in December and the Bowerman Award — track & field's Heisman Trophy — will be up for grabs.

There are three athletes of each gender among the finalists for the award, which will be determined by a closed online fan vote as well as paper balloting. The Bowerman — named for legendary Oregon track & field and cross country coach Bill Bowerman — debuted in 2009.

The men's online balloting was relatively close, top to bottom, with Ngoni Makusha of Florida State garnering 42 percent followed by Washington State's Jeshua Anderson (30 percent) and Florida's Christian Taylor (27 percent). Taylor subsequently won the IAAF World Championship in the triple jump.

The women's balloting seemed to come down to two as Texas A&M's Jessica Beard (49 percent) and LSU's Kimberlyn Duncan (42 percent) gathered more than 90 percent of the vote. Arkansas' Tina Sutej was far behind.

In addition to the Bowerman ceremonies and a series of symposiums and courses, there will also be the first USTFCCCA Women's Summit, where leading professionals will address real-world strategies for the issues facing women coaches.  

"We are ecstatic to have such an exceptional group of women lead our first-ever Women's Summit," said USTFCCCA President Ted Bulling. "It is very important that we support women coaches in cross country and track & field in achieving professional fulfillment. I believe that one of the keys to that support is working with and learning from other talented and successful individuals, like the women in this group."  

The scheduled speakers for the Summit are:

• Joni Comstock – Senior Vice President for Championships, NCAA
• Laura Gentile – Vice President, espnW
• Alfreeda Goff – Founder & Co-Chair, NCAA Women's Leadership Symposium
• Nancy Hogshead-Makar – Legal Advisor, Women's Sports Foundation
• Ann Salerno – Co-Founder, The Change Cycle Series
• Bonnie Tiell – Co-Chair, NCAA Women's Leadership Symposium