EUGENE, Ore. – In recognition of her standout season, NCAA shot put champion and collegiate-record holder Jaida Ross has been named a finalist for The Bowerman as announced Monday afternoon. Ross joins Maia Ramsden of Harvard and Parker Valby of Florida on the ballot as finalists for the award.
Named for legendary Oregon head coach Bill Bowerman and first awarded in 2009, The Bowerman is presented annually to the most outstanding male and female performers in collegiate track and field. The men’s finalists will be named Tuesday. The winners will be announced Thursday, Dec. 19, at The Bowerman Presentation in Orlando, Fla.
Jaida Ross: 2024 Trophy Case
The Bowerman Finalist
NCAA Champion (shot put)
Pac-12 Champion (shot put + discus)
NCAA Indoor runner-up (shot put)
Collegiate Record Holder (shot put, 20.01m/65-7.75)
USTFCCCA National Field Athlete of the Year
USTFCCCA West Region Field Athlete of the Year
Pac-12 Field Athlete of the Year
USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week (April 8)
Pac-12 Field Athlete of the Week (April 9, April 30)
The Bowerman voting panel consists of select media members, statisticians, collegiate administrators and past winners. Responsible for one collective vote, online fan voting begins Tuesday at 1 p.m. (PT) and continues through Thursday, June 27, at 11 a.m. (PT). Click HERE for The Bowerman fan voting.
With Monday’s announcement, Ross becomes the fifth Oregon woman to be named a finalist for The Bowerman. Her name gets added to the exclusive list featuring Brianne Theisen (2012), Laura Roesler (2014), Jenna Prandini (2015) and Raevyn Rogers (2017). Roesler, Prandini and Rogers went on to win The Bowerman.
Ross is the fourth women’s thrower to be named a finalist, joining Raven Saunders of Ole Miss (2016), Maggie Ewen of Arizona State (2017, ’18) and Camryn Rogers of California (2022). Ross also becomes the third finalist for UO throws coach Brian Blutreich who also coached Ewen and Turner Washington (2021) at Arizona State.
Ross broke the collegiate record—for a second time—with her throw of 20.01m/65-7.75 at the NCAA West Preliminary (May 23) in Fayetteville, Ark. With the effort, she became the first collegian and just the seventh American woman ever over 20 meters. Ross first broke the collegiate record at the Triton Invitational (April 6) with her toss of 19.71m/64-8, a mark she tied three weeks later during the Desert Heat Classic in Tucson, Ariz.
The Medford, Ore., native owns four of the top five throws in collegiate history including her final mark of 19.57m/64-2.5 to cap her title-winning series at the NCAA Championships (June 6) at Hayward Field. All six of Ross’ throws were far enough to win the competition.
During the outdoor season, Ross produced 11 throws beyond 19 meters. Her 20.01 performance ranks fifth in the world this year.
At the Pac-12 Championships, Ross doubled up as the shot put and discus champion. She won the latter with a lifetime best of 59.74m/196-0 to move to No. 2 in Oregon history trailing only former teammate Jorinde Van Klinken.
During the indoor campaign, Ross added her name to the collegiate top-10 list with an 18.84m/61-9.75 showing at the Razorback Invitational (Jan. 28). With that throw, she became the No. 8 performer on the all-time collegiate indoor list; now ranked ninth. Improving on her eighth-place finish from a season ago, Ross was second at the NCAA Indoor Championships
Ross first appeared on The Bowerman radar on the mid-outdoor watch list (April 10) after the collegiate-record performance in La Jolla and remained on the list until being named a semifinalist last week.
Overall, Oregon now has 10 finalists. Five UO men have been a finalists for The Bowerman with Ashton Eaton (2009, ’10), Galen Rupp (2009), Andrew Wheating (2010), Edward Cheserek (2014, ’15, ’16) and Cole Hocker (2021). Rupp and Eaton won The Bowerman in 2009 and 2010, respectively.
Ross’ season continues Friday with the qualifying round of the shot put at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Eugene. The top 12 from the three-throw first round advances to Saturday’s final.
For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
