NEW ORLEANS – Texas A&M’s Fred Kerley and Oregon’s Raevyn Rogers won the fan vote for the 2017 Bowerman Award as announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Monday.
Kerley (Taylor, Texas) and Rogers (Houston, Texas) will both receive an all-important first-place vote in the Bowerman voting process. The fan vote is just one component of the formula used to decide the winner of the Bowerman Award, collegiate track and field’s highest honor.
Track and Field News recently named Kerley and Rogers their outdoor Collegiate Athletes of the Year.
This year’s winner of the Bowerman Award will be announced on Friday, December 15, at the annual USTFCCCA Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. The convention will be held at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort and Spa.
More than 39,000 votes were tallied between June 22 and June 30 for the women’s finalists and nearly 35,000 votes were registered for the men’s finalists.
Kerley is the second Aggie male athlete from Texas A&M to win a fan vote, joining 2014 Bowerman Award winner Deon Lendore. Another Aggie fan vote winner was Jessica Beard, who claimed the 2011 Bowerman.
Throughout most of the proceedings, it appeared as if former Tennessee standout Christian Coleman would run away with the men’s fan vote. Coleman owned 45.2 percent of the vote as of last Wednesday compared to just 33.3 percent for Kerley and 21.5 percent for Texas A&M’s Lindon Victor.
Then votes poured in for Kerley and closed Coleman’s gap to 4.5 percent on Thursday.
When voting closed last Friday, Kerley shot ahead of Coleman. Kerley ended up with 40.8 percent of the vote, while Coleman had 38.8 and Victor finished third with 20.4.
The women’s fan vote was incredibly close, just like it has been in previous years.
While Rogers led early, there was little to no separation between her and the other two – Arizona State’s Maggie Ewen and Georgia’s Keturah Orji.
Then just like last year, a late surge pushed Orji ahead. Orji won the Fan Vote last year and was looking to become the first person in the Bowerman history to win consecutive fan votes.
Rogers weathered the storm and the Oregon star finished with 35.5 percent of the vote compared to 33.0 for Orji and 31.5 for Ewen.
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics