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Grant Holloway, Sha'Carri Richardson Win 2019 Bowerman Awards

Grant Holloway, Sha'Carri Richardson Win 2019 Bowerman Awards

Florida hurdler/sprinter/jumper Grant Holloway and LSU sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson took home track and field's top collegiate awards on Thursday night.

Dec 20, 2019 by Lincoln Shryack
Grant Holloway, Sha'Carri Richardson Win 2019 Bowerman Awards

The fastest woman in NCAA history and the top high hurdler in the world were recognized as the best collegiate track and field athletes of 2019 as Sha’Carri Richardson (LSU) and Grant Holloway (Florida) were awarded Bowerman trophies on Thursday night in Orlando, Florida.

The freshman Richardson blasted a 10.75 100m collegiate record in June’s NCAA final in Austin, breaking a 30-year-old record previously held by another LSU Tiger, Dawn Sowell. The mark also broke the world junior record and moved the 19-year-old to ninth on the all-time 100m list. Richardson’s casual double deuces victory celebration upon shattering a long-held record stands as one of the lasting images from the 2019 season. She turned pro shortly after her breakthrough performance at NCAAs.

On Thursday, she became the first freshman ever to win the Bowerman trophy.

Richardson beat out Arkansas hurdler Janeek Brown and Florida jumper Yanis David for the women’s award. She joins another former Tiger sprinter, Kimberlyn Duncan, as a Bowerman winner from LSU. 

Holloway’s excellence as an all-around track and field athlete stretched from the early portions of the indoor season in January to the 110m hurdles World Championship final in October. 

The junior added another event to his arsenal in the winter, the 60m dash, an addition that he took to naturally as a complement to his 60m hurdles speciality. In the span of 40 minutes at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships in March, Holloway dazzled with a 7.35 American record in the 60mH before dominating the 60m in 6.50. He became the first man since 2000 to pull off such a double at NCAAs. With a third place finish in the long jump and another in the 4x400m, Holloway tallied 27.5 points for the Gators-- second-most by an individual in history-- to lead Florida to the indoor national title.

Outdoors brought a new challenge that Holloway wasn’t familiar with at the NCAA level: competition in the 110m hurdles. After a loss to Kentucky’s Daniel Roberts in the SEC final in May-- his first since his freshman year-- a third straight NCAA title and the coveted collegiate record (13.00) seemed in doubt for the first time. But Holloway delivered the signature performance of his career in what would be his final collegiate meet in Austin, as he ran 12.98 to Roberts’ 13.00 to eclipse Renaldo Nehemiah’s record that had stood for 40 years. The time was the fastest in the world in 2019.

For good measure, the Swiss army knife star also helped the Gators break the collegiate record in the 4x100m (37.97) before anchoring the 4x400m squad to a runner-up finish with a scorching 43.75 leg. 

It was an appropriate final act for one of the most dynamic athletes in NCAA track and field history, as the hyper-energetic star turned professional immediately after the outdoor championships.

As it would turn out, his 2019 season still had plenty of magic left in it. Nearly four months after his triumph in Austin, the then 21-year-old struck gold in Doha in the 110m hurdles World Championship final. (While the post-collegiate season did not factor into Holloway’s Bowerman candidacy, it’s impossible to ignore that performance.)

A stunned reaction across the finish line quickly turned to pure jubilance as the young pro sprinted around the curve with boundless energy. You couldn’t tell it, but the final in Doha was Holloway’s 42nd race of the season.

When the weight of his unparalleled season hit him moments after winning gold at worlds, the man who his coach, Mike Holloway, described as “an energy monster” couldn’t hold back his emotions. The image of Holloway, with tears in his eyes, celebrating gold while pointing out the friends and family in the crowd who helped get him there was the perfect ending to a nine-month long season that redefined track and field greatness.

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Like Richardson, Holloway is the second winner from his school as he joins Marquis Dendy as Florida Gators who have won the Bowerman. Holloway topped Texas Tech sprinter Divine Oduduru and LSU pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis on Thursday.