The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
07.13.2021 | Track & Field / Cross Country
Davis is the third Longhorn to be named a finalist for the award and first since 2016.
AUSTIN, Texas – University of Texas Track & Field standout and 2021 Olympian Tara Davis has been selected as one of three finalists for The Bowerman Award, track and field's highest individual honor, as announced Tuesday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Davis had a historic, record-setting 2021 season in the long jump. She captured both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championship titles in the long jump this season, becoming the first woman in Longhorn history to win an NCAA Outdoor long jump title, and the first Longhorn man or woman to sweep the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor crowns. In addition, she established both the indoor and outdoor collegiate records in the event, setting the women's indoor collegiate record with an NCAA title-winning jump of 6.93m/22-9 at the NCAA Indoor Championships, then breaking Jackie Joyner-Kersee's 36-year-old outdoor collegiate record with a mark of 7.14m/23-5.25 at the Texas Relays.
A native of Agoura Hills, Calif., she helped lead Texas to the Big 12 Indoor and Outdoor Championship crowns and was a Big 12 Outdoor Champion in both the 100m hurdles and long jump. Davis is a five-time USTFCCCA All-American, a four-time selection to The Bowerman Watch List and tied the Big 12 record with three Women's Outdoor Athlete of the Week honors (3/31, 4/28, 5/5) in 2021. She was also a finalist for the 2021 Honda Sport Award for Track & Field and Texas' nominee for Big 12 Female Athlete of the Year.
At last month's U.S. Olympic Trials, Davis had five legal jumps of over 22-feet, finishing second at the trials with a mark of 7.04m/23-1.25 to become the first Longhorn to earn a Team USA Olympic bid in the women's long jump. This year, she posted four of the top six jumps in collegiate outdoor history and now holds the top 13 outdoor long jump efforts in school history.
She is the only Longhorn woman ever to clear 22-feet, and surpassed 23-feet three times this year, including her Collegiate Record mark at the Texas Relays.
Davis is the third Longhorn to be named as a finalist, joining two-time finalist and 2016 winner Courtney Okolo and 2009 finalist Destinee Hooker. She is joined by fellow finalists Tyra Gittens and Athing Mu of Texas A&M University.
Winners of The Bowerman Award will be announced on Friday, December 17 during the annual USTFCCCA Convention in Orlando, Florida. The winners will be determined by voting by a select panel of national and regional media personnel, track & field statisticians, NCAA collegiate administrators, past Bowerman winners and presidents of affiliated organizations. Fans also collectively have one vote, and the USTFCCCA announced the online voting for fans will open on Wednesday, July 14 at 3 p.m. CT. Fans may vote up to five times a day during the one-week window at http://thebowerman.org/vote.
Created in 2009, The Bowerman, named after legendary former coach of the Oregon Ducks and co-founder of Nike, Bill Bowerman, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track and field athletes in the nation and has been called by some "The Heisman Trophy of Track and Field."
