Erik Kynard, a high-jumper at Kansas State, and Oklahoma's Tia Brooks, who competes in the women's shot put, are two of the semifinalist for the Bowerman Award, the highest honor given annually to the most outstanding male and female track and field athletes.
↵Kynard won his second straight outdoor NCAA title in the high jump earlier this month, clearing a height of seven feet, eight inches. He is only the eighth jumper in collegiate history to succeed at that height. Twice in the indoor season, Kynard cleared seven feet, seven inches.
↵Brooks, a junior at Oklahoma, won her first national title in the shot put at this year's NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, with a distance of 60-feet, six inches. She also won the 2012 NCAA Indoor crown, with the second best winning performance in the history of NCAA women's track and field.
↵The Bowerman Award is named after legendary University of Oregon track coach Bob Bowerman.
↵In the three-year history of the coveted award, two Big 12 athletes have won it (Jessica Beard of Texas A&M in 2011and Jenny Barringer of Colorado in 2009). The three male and female finalists will be announced June 29 and the winners in December.
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