Morris Holds Steady on Bowerman Watch List

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Behind a world-leading and record-breaking performance at the SEC Outdoor Championships, senior Sandi Morris holds steady on the post-regular season Bowerman Watch List. Thursday’s release marks the sixth-consecutive appearance for Morris who first joined the list after breaking the indoor collegiate record in January. Morris enters the NCAA West Preliminary meet as the world leader with a clearance of 4.72m/15-5.75 in the pole vault.

In her last outing, Morris broke the collegiate record to win her second-consecutive SEC outdoor title in the pole vault. She became the third Razorback to win back-to-back conference titles in the event. With the first-place effort, Morris has now won 13 of 15 competitions this year including five of six meets during the outdoor season. Her latest Watch List placement comes two day after being named the National Athlete of the Week.

Along with her SEC title, Morris’ outdoor season includes wins at the Texas Relays, Stanford Invitational, John McDonnell Invitational and Arkansas Twilight. With her showing at the SEC Championships, she surpassed the previous collegiate mark of 15-5.5 set by Demi Payne of Stephen F. Austin. Morris first broke the record with a clearance of 15-1.75 at the John McDonnell Invitational. She is one of just five women to clear 15 feet in NCAA history.

Morris was the NCAA and SEC indoor champion in the pole vault with meet-record performances on each occasion. She posted her then-absolute personal best with a clearance of 4.66m/15-3.5 at the indoor conference meet in Lexington, Ky. She has seven winning clearance of 15 feet or higher with a minimum clearance of 14-5.25 to win the season-opening Arkansas Invitational.

The Greenville, S.C., native is the fourth Razorback to appear on the Bowerman Women’s Watch List, along with former program standouts Makeba Alcide, Regina George and 2011 finalist Tina Sutej. Overall, an Arkansas student-athlete has appeared on the Watch List 24 times.

The Bowerman award, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the standout male and female collegiate track and field athletes in the nation. In total, the winners from the award’s first five years have gone on to win three Olympic medals, two World Championship titles and six World Championship medals overall. The next women’s Watch List will be released June 4.

The top-ranked Razorbacks return to competition May 28-30 with 24 qualifiers at the NCAA West Preliminary in Austin, Texas. The top-12 qualifiers in each event will then advance to the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Championships held June 10-13 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

For more information on Arkansas track and field including in-meet updates, follow @RazorbackTF on Twitter.