JuVaughn Harrison, Terrance Laird and Sean “Squirrel” Burrell, three key members of LSU’s 2021 NCAA outdoor track and field national championship team, were named semifinalists Thursday for The Bowerman, the most prestigious award in collegiate track and field.
It’s the first time in program history that LSU has had three male semifinalists for the Bowerman, named after former University of Oregon coach Bill Bowerman.
Harrison is a semifinalist for the second time in his career after also being named one in 2019. Laird and Burrell become semifinalists for the first time in their careers. LSU has now had a total of six athletes named semifinalists for The Bowerman. The others have been Walter Henning (2010), Vernon Norwood (2015) and Mondo Duplantis (2019).
Burrell becomes the ninth man in program history to be recognized by The Bowerman committee. He’s the 10th true freshman to ever be named a Bowerman semifinalist.
Harrison capped a brilliant season by sweeping the high jump and long jump at both the NCAA indoor championships and NCAA outdoor championships for a total of four national titles this season. He did not lose a high jump competition all year and went 5-2 in the long jump. He registered three NCAA all-time top 10 marks this season – outdoor high jump (No. 2/7 feet, 8 3/4 inches), indoor long jump (No. 4/27 feet, 8 3/4 inches), and outdoor long jump (No. 6/27 feet, 8 1/4 inches).
Laird led LSU at the NCAA outdoor championships by scoring 20.5 points between the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 4×100 meter relay including wins in the 100 meters (10.05) and 4×100 meter relay (38.48). Laird owns the third (19.81) and fourth (19.82) fastest times in collegiate history in the outdoor 200 meters; his indoor PR of 20.20 in the 200 meters is the No. 7 time in collegiate history.
Burrell became LSU’s third ever NCAA champion in the 400 meter hurdles last week at the NCAA outdoor championships. The native a Zachary, La., circled the track in a time of 47.85 seconds while also clearing 10 hurdles on his way to setting the U20 world record in the event. The time is the second fastest in LSU history and ranks No. 4 on the all-time collegiate list.
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