• Main
• Roster
• Coaches
• Schedule
• Statistics
• Archives

NORMAN, Okla. -- University of Oklahoma redshirt senior Tia Brooks has been named to the 2013 Bowerman Watch List by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). The award, track and field’s equivalent of the Heisman, is presented to the nation’s top track and field athlete over the indoor and outdoor seasons.

"Tia's selection for The Bowerman Watch List is a tremendous honor,” said Oklahoma head track and field coach Martin Smith.  “It is reflective of her national prominence in the sport of track & field. “ 

The announcement marks the second-straight year that Brooks has been named to the Bowerman Watch List. Last year she became the first Oklahoma female to be named to the watch list and now the only Sooner in OU history to receive the recognition in back-to-back years.

Brooks embarks on her final year in the Crimson and Cream after a stellar 2012 campaign that saw her become a Bowerman Award semifinalist. Additionally, she was the first female Sooner to win an outdoor national title in the shot put and just the 12^th in NCAA history to sweep both the indoor and outdoor title in the same season.

The five-time All-American also managed to sweep both the Big 12 title in the shot put in both the indoor and outdoor season. The win was the first outdoor conference title for Brooks while at OU, and she became the third female Sooner to bring home the shot put crown in OU history. She is a back-to-back indoor Big 12 shot put champion with wins in 2011 and 2012.

Following her 2012 collegiate season, Brooks stamped a ticket to the 2012 London Olympic Games after she finished third at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials with a shot put of 60 feet, two inches (18.34 meters). She became the second female member of the Oklahoma track and field team to be named an Olympian, following Laverne Jones-Ferrette who was a sprinter for the U.S. Virgin Islands in the 2004 Games.

“Her accomplishments last year, with a U.S. Olympic Team berth can be attributed to the special partnership she and Coach Blutreich have built throughout her time in Oklahoma,” continued Smith.  

“Their work together has taken Tia to the highest levels of her sport and could not have been possible without the mentoring of Coach Blutreich."

The Grand Rapids, Mich., native set the Oklahoma program record at the 2012 Drake Relays in April on her final attempt at the prestigious event. That mark – 60-7.25 – met the Olympic A standard and helped Brooks defend the title she won at the 2011 Drake Relays. It marked the 10th best throw ever by a collegian and puts her sixth on the NCAA all-time list in the event.

During the 2012 indoor season, Brooks became the 36th Sooner to win a coveted NCAA track and field national championship on March 10 at the Jacksons Track in Nampa, Idaho. Brooks turned in the performance of a lifetime with a throw of 62-4 to win her first national title in the women's shot put.

She was runner-up in the indoor and outdoor shot put at the 2011 NCAA Championships. Brooks, who has five All-America honors to her credit, has earned six all-conference honors and holds the indoor and outdoor shot put program records at Oklahoma.

Brooks and the Sooners women’s track and field team open the 2013 indoor season with the JD Martin Invitational Duals in Norman, Okla., on January 19.

WOMEN’S WATCH LIST

NAME                           SCHOOL
Brigetta Barrett              Arizona
Tia Brooks                     Oklahoma
Diamond Dixon              Kansas
Kimberlyn Duncan          LSU
Katie Flood                    Washington
English Gardner             Oregon
Georganne Moline          Arizona
Betsy Saina                   Iowa State
Brittany Smith                Illinois State
Ashley Spencer              Illinois 

Also Receiving Mention  

NAME                               SCHOOL
Emma Coburn                    Colorado
Octavious Freeman            UCF
Andrea Geubelle                Kansas
Jordan Hasay                     Oregon
Morgann Leleux                 Georgia
Kai Selvon                         Auburn