Christopher Morales Williams named finalist for NCAA Bowerman Award

There’s no doubt that Christopher Morales Williams of Vaughan, Ont., has had an unforgettable season competing for the University of Georgia Bulldogs in the NCAA. Morales Williams has won NCAA 400m titles (both indoors and outdoors), set world and Canadian records and won 13 of his 14 races. Now, the 19-year-old has been named a finalist for one of the most prestigious awards in collegiate athletics–The Bowerman Award.

Here are the Men’s Finalists for The Bowerman in 2024!

Let them know, @RGIII!

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— The Bowerman (@thebowerman) June 25, 2024

The Bowerman Award is the highest accolade given to the best annual track and field athletes (male and female) in the NCAA, chosen by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Morales Williams had three performances under 44.50 seconds in the 400m event, leading him to NCAA 400m titles in both indoor and outdoor seasons. Notably, his 44.05 clocking to win the SEC title places him sixth on the all-time 400m chart. Indoors, Morales Williams made headlines by clocking an all-time world best of 44.49 seconds, taking down a mark formerly held by 2022 world champion Michael Norman. His performance was initially a world indoor record, but later deemed not ratifiable because the meet did not have electric-timing starting blocks to measure reaction time.

He also broke Canadian national records for the 400m (indoors and outdoors), both of which had stood for more than 15 years. This is the second year in a row that an athlete from Georgia has been a finalist for The Bowerman (Kyle Garland was a finalist last year).

Morales Williams told Canadian Running that he is honoured to be nominated for such a prestigious award: “I heard about it for the first time last year when my teammate, Kyle, won. It’s such a hard award to win—you have to have a perfect season.”

Morales Williams put the cap on his “perfect season” at the 2024 NCAA Championships where he became the first Canadian to win a collegiate 400m title in 84 years. He is one of three athletes nominated for the award. The other nominees are American hurdler Caleb Dean of Texas Tech University (60m and 110m hurdles) and German decathlete Leo Neugebauer of the University of Texas. Neugebauer is the NCAA champion in the decathlon, where he became just the seventh man in history to eclipse 8,900 points with his 8,961-point total at the 2024 NCAA Track and Field Championships in Oregon.

Since its introduction in 2009, the award has been won twice by a Canadian NCAA athlete. Although Canadian marathon record holder Cam Levins won the award in 2012 with Southern Utah University and 2016 Olympic high jump champion Derek Drouin won it with the University of Indiana in 2013, it has never been won by a Canadian sprinter.

The 22 winners of the award have won a combined 16 Olympic and 60 World Athletics Championship medals. Additionally, the finalists of the award have won a combined 14 Olympic and 54 World Athletics Championship medals.

Fan voting for The Bowerman begins Tuesday, June 25 on The Bowerman’s website and runs through Thursday, June 27. The winner of the award will be announced during the annual USTFCCCA meeting in Orlando, Fla., on Dec. 19.