Bowerman preseason watch list includes Razorback Britton Wilson
NEW ORLEANS – Razorback Britton Wilson is among 10 athletes named to The Bowerman 2023 women’s preseason watch list, announced by USTFCCCA on Tuesday. A semifinalist for the annual award last season, Wilson makes her first appearance on a preseason watch list.
The Bowerman is the highest honor bestowed to collegiate track and field most outstanding athletes of the year.
Wilson will open her 2023 campaign this Friday in the Arkansas Invitational and is scheduled to race in the 600m and on a 4 x 400m relay.
Last season, racing in an early December meet, Wilson posted a time of 1:30.34 in her debut at 600m while teammate Morgan Burks-Magee set an Arkansas record of 1:27.29, which ranks sixth among collegians and is third best among SEC runners.
In 2022, Wilson put together an amazing season in which she was part of 10 Arkansas school records, including lowering the UA record in the 400m hurdles five times, as well as a collegiate record indoors in the 4 x 400m relay (3:24.09, 49.83 anchor split).
Following her NCAA title in the 400m hurdles, Wilson finished second in the USATF Championships in a career best of 53.08 to earn a berth into the World Athletics Championships, where she placed fifth in the final.
Wilson collected a gold medal at the World Championships as a member of the United States 4 x 400m relay, who won in a world-leading time of 3:17.79. Wilson supplied a 49.39 third leg split, increasing USA’s lead.
Named the 2022 SEC Outdoor Runner of the Year, Wilson achieved a pair of Arkansas school records in the 400m (50.05) and 400m hurdles (53.75) as she became the first female to win both events at the same SEC meet. It’s only been accomplished once on the men’s side, in 1966.
Wilson capped her phenomenal SEC Outdoor same-day performance with a 48.60 split on the 4 x 400 relay as the Razorbacks placed third in 3:22.55, the No. 3 collegiate time ever. The split by Wilson is the fastest split ever by a collegian.
In Track & Field News year-end rankings published recently in the January 2023 issue, Wilson earned the No. 4 position in the world rankings of the 400m hurdles based on her overall season.
Wilson finished behind the three World medalists – Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (US), Femke Bol (Netherlands), and Dalilah Muhammad (US). In U.S. rankings, Wilson earned a No. 3 position in the 400m hurdles and No. 4 in the 400m.
Her 400m hurdle time of 53.08 was third best on the 2022 world list while her 400m time of 50.05 was 10th best in the world. Among Americans, she was second best in both the 400m hurdles and the 400m for the 2022 season.
In the 4 x 400m relay, Arkansas’ 3:22.55 was fourth best on 2022 U.S. list while it’s indoor time of 3:24.09 was seventh best among outdoor marks. On the world list, the Razorbacks were ninth and 12th with those pair of times.
A total of six athletes from the SEC are on the preseason watch list. Joining Wilson from the conference are Alia Armstrong (LSU), Talitha Diggs (Florida), Lamara Distin (Texas A&M), Jasmine Moore (Florida), and Favour Ofili (LSU).
Included among the 10 athletes making the preseason watch list are Camryn Rogers (California), a finalist in 2022, Julien Alfred (Texas), Adelaide Aquilla (Ohio State), and Jorinde van Klinken (Oregon).