Kentucky’s Abby Steiner won the 2022 Bowerman as the most outstanding woman in track and field. Steiner is the first athlete in Kentucky history to win the Bowerman. Steiner swept the 200 meter NCAA titles and ran on the winning NCAA 4×400 meter relay team. She also set four NCAA records in 2022.
RELATED: A complete history of the Bowerman
Steiner had a fantastic season filled with great performances. Here are some of her top moments from her award-winning season.
The top moments from Abby Steiner’s 2022 season
Starting off the season with a record
Abby Steiner ended her 2021 season with an achilles injury, but returned in 2022 with a bang. Steiner’s first meet after the injury was the Louisville Cardinal Classic to kickoff the indoor season. Steiner competed in only one individual event, the 300 meters. Steiner ran 1.5 laps in 35.80 seconds, a collegiate record. It would be an impressive feat for anyone, but it even more impressive for Steiner to run in her return to action.
New #CollegiateRecord 35.80 in the 300m for @abbysteiner1, who also owns the indoor 200m Collegiate Record. #UKTF 😼💙 pic.twitter.com/r6KDAQac4S
— UK Track & Field (@KentuckyTrack) December 11, 2021
Steiner breaks her own indoor 200 meter record for the first time
Abby Steiner already own the 200 meter indoor record entering 2022, sharing the leading time of 22.38 seconds with Harvard’s Gabby Thomas. Steiner made sure the record was all hers at Clemson’s Tiger Paw Invitational. She blazed around the track, finishing in 22.37 seconds to standalone atop the record books.
A NEW COLLEGIATE RECORD‼️
Abby Steiner, the sprinting 🐐 of #UKTF. pic.twitter.com/0s2wPfQpKt
— UK Track & Field (@KentuckyTrack) February 12, 2022
Watch @abbysteiner1 break the collegiate record for the second time in one year! 😳💪
22.37, forever in the collegiate history books.#UKTF pic.twitter.com/XEpvZxOveI
— UK Track & Field (@KentuckyTrack) February 12, 2022
Breaking her own record…again
At the indoor SEC championships, Abby Steiner broke her indoor 200 meter record with a remarkable time of 22.09 seconds. The mark set an American indoor record.
A NEW AMERICAN INDOOR RECORD OF 22.09 FOR @abbysteiner1. WOW! 🏆
GREATEST. OF. ALL. TIME.#UKTF x #SECTF pic.twitter.com/xw7MMaedBE
— UK Track & Field (@KentuckyTrack) February 27, 2022
Back-to-back national titles
Abby Steiner defended her indoor 200 meter NCAA title in 2022. She finished in 22.16 seconds to set a championship record in the win. Steiner also finished second in the 60 meters at NCAA championships, running 7.10.
The 4×4 record
In 2021, Texas A&M set a women’s 4×400 meter relay record, ending a four-year standing record. It took less than a year for the 4×400 meter relay record to fall again, as Kentucky broke the barrier next. The Wildcat quartet featured Steiner running the third leg in a 48.72-second split as Kentucky finished in a record-breaking 3:21.93. More impressively, Kentucky outran a Texas A&M relay team that also broke the previous record.
ICYMI: Our women’s 4x400m relay of Karimah Davis, Dajour Miles, @abbysteiner1 and @trackqueenlex broke the collegiate record with a time of 3:21.93. 😼
Still not over it.#UKTF x #SECTF
📺 @SECNetwork + pic.twitter.com/rnlCL2TfRY— UK Track & Field (@KentuckyTrack) May 15, 2022
An outdoor championships to remember
Abby Steiner had a busy weekend at the 2022 DI outdoor championships. She ran in the 100 meters, 200 meters, 4×100 meter relay and 4×400 meter relay. When counting semifinal races, that was seven races over the span of three days. Steiner finished third in the 100 meters, finishing in 11.08. She and Kentucky finished second in the 4×100 meter relay.
However, Steiner’s most impressive performance came in the 200 meters. Steiner finished in 21.80 seconds to claim the NCAA title. Steiner’s time gave her the collegiate record and the eight-fastest time in US history.
If that performance wasn’t good enough, Steiner closed the meet by running in the 4×400 meter relay. She and Kentucky finished in 3:22.55 to win first place with the fourth-fastest time in collegiate history.