Alabama track and field athlete Doris Lemngole has been named a finalist for The Bowerman, an award given each year to the top male and female collegiate track and field athletes. The announcement was made Monday by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Lemngole is joined as a finalist by Pamela Kosgei from New Mexico and Savannah Sutherland from Michigan. This marks the first time in Alabama Crimson Tide program history that a student-athlete has reached this stage of recognition for The Bowerman. Lemngole was also the only athlete on the women’s list to appear on every watchlist during the 2025 season.
The Bowerman was established in 2009, with its first watchlists released in 2010. Only performances from collegiate indoor and outdoor track and field seasons are considered for the award; cross country results are not included. According to organizers, “For the first time since 2010, all honorees are first-ever finalists for their respective institutions.”
Fan voting for The Bowerman will open at 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday, July 8, and close at 1 p.m. on Thursday, July 10. The presentation ceremony will take place Thursday, Dec. 18, in Grapevine, Texas, at the annual USTFCCCA Convention.
Lemngole’s achievements this season include defending her steeplechase national title while setting both NCAA meet and collegiate records with a world-leading time of 8:58.15 in the event. She became the first student-athlete in NCAA history to complete a sub-nine-minute time in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.
She is also a two-time SEC outdoor champion in both steeplechase and the 5,000 meters, remained undefeated in all outdoor events this season, won the 2025 NCAA indoor national championship in the 5,000 meters, and finished as runner-up in the indoor 3,000 meters.
In total, Lemngole is a four-time national champion across multiple events: “2024: outdoor steeplechase; 2024: cross country; 2025: indoor 5,000m; 2025: outdoor steeplechase.” She is also a seven-time All-American and received honors such as “2024 USTFCCCA Lance Harter National Women’s Athlete of the Year” as well as sweeping all three SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards for cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track during the past academic year.
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