University of Tennessee Athletics
Blankenship On Bowerman Preseason Watch List
January 11, 2016 | Track & Field
NEW ORLEANS -- Tennessee senior pole vaulter Jake Blankenship was named to the 2016 Bowerman Award Men's Preseason Watch List last week.
Blankenship is a four-time USTFCCCA All-American and currently leads the nation with an indoor mark of 5.45 meters (17 feet, 10.5 inches), which he cleared at this past week's 21st Indiana-Tennessee Dual. He earned First Team All-America honors for the 2014 outdoor season and the 2015 indoor and outdoor seasons and was a Second Team honoree for the 2013 outdoor season. In 2015, he was the national runner-up at the NCAA Indoor Championships and placed sixth in the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Last year, he set career marks, clearing 5.80 meters (19 feet, 0.25 inch) in the indoor and outdoor seasons. His 5.80-meter outdoor mark was the eighth-best mark in the world during the 2015 outdoor season.
Blankenship enjoyed an outstanding summer competing for Team USA. He earned bronze at the USATF Championships with a final clearance of 5.60 meters (18 feet, 4.25 inches). Blankenship took bronze at the Pan American Games by clearing a height of 5.40 meters (17 feet, 8.5 inches) and also competed at the World Championships in China.
The Bowerman, which debuted in 2009, is presented annually by the USTFCCCA to the most outstanding male and female collegiate track & field athletes in the nation. Past winners include Olympic gold medalist, four-time World Champion and decathlon world-record holder Ashton Eaton (2010), 10,000-meter Olympic silver medalist Galen Rupp (2009), 2011 IAAF World Champion at 1500 meters Jenny Simpson (2009), 2013 100-meter hurdles World Champion Brianna Rollins (2013) as well as 2012 Olympic high jump bronze medalist and 2015 World Champion Derek Drouin (2013). The 2015 men's winner was Florida jumper Marquis Dendy and the women's winner was Oregon sprinter/jumper Jenna Prandini.
The next Bowerman Award Men's Watch List comes out on Feb. 3. The Bowerman Award winners are announced in December.
Bowerman Award Men's Preseason Watch List
Devon Allen - SO/Oregon/Hurdles/Phoenix, Ariz.
Ronnie Baker - JR/TCU/Sprints/Louisville, Ky.
Jake Blakenship - SR/Tennessee/Pole Vault/Blacklick, Ohio
Edward Cheserek - JR/Oregon/Distance/Newark, N.J.
Najee Glass - SR/Florida/Sprints/Woodbridge, N.J.
Jarrion Lawson - SR/Arkansas/Sprints/Jumps/Texarkana, Texas
Brandon McBride - SR/Mississippi State/Mid-Distance/Windsor, Ontario
Nick Miller - SR/Oklahoma State/Throws/Carlisle, England
Chad Noelle - SR/Oklahoma State/Mid-Distance/Binghamton, N.Y.
Maicel Uibo - SR/Georgia/Combined Events/Polva, Estonia
