GRAPEVINE, Texas - Hurdling standout Ja’Kobe Tharp of the Auburn track & field team concluded a historic season as one of three finalists for The Bowerman, the top collegiate track & field honor presented annually by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Tharp became the first athlete in Auburn track & field program history to be named a finalist for The Bowerman. He was selected alongside Arkansas’ Jordan Anthony and Baylor’s Nathaniel Ezekiel.
"Being a Bowerman finalist means a lot to me because it shows that my hard work is paying off,” Tharp said. “Knowing that what Coach Ken (Harnden) and I are working on in practice is showing at this level truly means a lot. Growing up, I knew I wanted to be the best, and this is part of that. It feels good.”
The Bowerman Presentation was held Thursday night at the USTFCCCA Convention in Grapevine, Texas. The men’s Bowerman Award was presented to Jordan Anthony of Arkansas, while Doris Lemngole of Alabama claimed the women’s award.
The Murfreesboro, Tennessee, native delivered an exceptional indoor and outdoor campaign during the 2025 season. Tharp claimed NCAA titles in both the indoor 60m hurdles and the outdoor 110m hurdles, becoming Auburn’s first national champion in the 110m hurdles since Ty Akins in 2007.
His personal-best time of 13.05 in the 110m hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships ranked as the fifth-fastest in collegiate history and was the third-fastest time in the world at the time. He earned a silver medal at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Indoors, Tharp ran a lifetime-best 7.45 to win Auburn’s first men’s individual indoor national title since 2007. The mark ranks as the eighth-fastest in NCAA history and marked the program’s first individual men’s indoor title by a sprinter since Olympian Coby Miller won the 200m in 1999.
He captured the SEC indoor title in the 60m hurdles. Tharp owns eight of the nine fastest times in school history in the indoor hurdles.
Tharp’s performances helped guide the Auburn men to a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and a third-place showing at NCAA Indoors, marking the program’s third consecutive national trophy on the men’s side.
Tharp was named to The Bowerman Watch List nine times during his Auburn career and was later honored as the USTFCCCA South Region Men’s Track Athlete of the Year following the conclusion of the indoor and outdoor seasons.
The Bowerman, named after legendary coach Bill Bowerman, was established in 2009 and recognizes the nation’s top male and female collegiate track & field athletes each year.
To read more on Ja’Kobe Tharp, click here, and for more on The Bowerman winners, visit here.