Canada's Morales Williams a finalist for NCAA men's track and field athlete of the year

Christopher Morales Williams will carry added momentum into his 400-metre races this week at the Canadian Olympic track and field trials in Montreal.

The University of Georgia star was named a finalist for the Bowerman Award on Tuesday as NCAA male track and field athlete of the year along with Texas Tech hurdler Caleb Dean and Texas decathlete Leo Neugebauer.

Morales Williams, the 19-year-old sophomore from Vaughan, Ont., completed an indoor-outdoor sweep of NCAA titles, capping an undefeated season by taking the outdoor 400 in 44.47 seconds on June 7 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. On March 9 in Boston, he captured the indoor race in 44.67.

Morales Williams's performance three weeks ago was his third race under 44.50 this year, more than 2018 Bowerman recipient Michael Norman, the 2022 world champion in the 400.

Morales Williams won the 400 in a world-leading 44.05 at the Southeastern Conference outdoor championships on May 11 in Gainesville, Fla., where he went 44.91 a month earlier at the Tom Jones Memorial meet to meet the 45.00 automatic qualifying standard for next month's Paris Olympics.

The performance lowered Tyler Christopher's 44.44 Canadian mark from 2005, reigning Olympic 100 silver medallist Fred Kerley's meet record of 44.09 from 2017, along with his school's and the facility's records.

None of the 58 athletes registered for the men's 400 at Complexe Sportif Claude Robillard in Montreal have run under 45 seconds. Morales Williams will be looking to win his second consecutive national title after going 45.48 last July 29 in Langley, B.C. He won the 400 at the U20 Championships in Langley in 2022.

Three months ago, Morales Williams was the third Georgia Bulldog to be named SEC indoor men's runner of the year after setting a Canadian and all-time best mark of 44.49 at the SECs the previous month, a mark once held by Norman.

WATCH l Morales Williams reacts to being announced as a finalist:

'Wow, it's happening to me': Morales Williams named finalist for NCAA athlete of year award

5 months ago

Duration 2:15

Canadian sprinter Christopher Morales Williams won both the indoor and outdoor NCAA 400m titles this season and has now been named as a finalist for the Bowerman Award; awarded to the NCAA men's track and field athlete of the year. Here's what he had to say about the news.

Winner to be announced Dec. 19

His 44.67 later made Morales Williams the only athlete in collegiate history with two all-time top-five marks indoors.

Morales Williams, Dean and Neugebauer were selected by The Bowerman Advisory Board, a panel of track and field experts from across the United States. Fan voting began Tuesday on the Bowerman website and runs through Thursday while paper voting ends July 12.

Morales Williams, Dean and Neugebauer will be recognized Dec. 19, with the winner announced by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association at its annual convention in Orlando, Fla.

Cam Levins, a former 5,000- and 10,000-metre standout at Southern Utah University, was the first Canadian to win the Bowerman Award in 2012.

The native of Black Creek, B.C., swept the events at the NCAA championships before representing Canada later that year at the London Olympics.

The 35-year-old is the Canadian record holder in the marathon and half marathon. Levins turned to road racing following July 2016 surgery to repair broken bones in his left foot.

High jumper Derek Drouin of Corunna, Ont., is the only other Canadian to win the Bowerman, going undefeated indoors and outdoors on the way to 2013 NCAA titles for Indiana.

The 2015 world gold medallist and 2016 Olympic champion withdrew from the 2021 Canadian trials, ending his quest to make the 2021 Canadian Olympic team for Tokyo. He battled numerous injuries over the years, including a serious spinal condition and three Achilles tendon tears.

Drouin, 34, last competed on June 10, 2021 in Espoo, Finland.

WATCH | Morales Williams on Canadian indoor mark: 'My brain turned off and I just ran': 

I accidentally broke the 'world record': Christopher Morales Williams on all-time best 400m run

9 months ago

Duration 0:38

Canadian sprinter isn't fazed that his 44.49-second run isn't officially recognized as a record because the 19-year-old reasons he has a whole career ahead of him.