Rich Bowman enters his 28th year at Cornell as an assistant coach. He works primarily with men’s and women’s sprint-hurdlers and multi-events and has coached Big Red student-athletes to 118 Ivy League and Heptagonal championships. Currently, 45 school marks are held by athletes whom he has coached.
During his tenure, 27 teams have won Heps titles: outdoor men in 1985, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007; outdoor women in 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007; indoor men in 2003, 2005 and 2006; and indoor women in 1991, 1995, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Under his guidance, the Big Red men and women won seven individual events at the 2007 indoor and outdoor Heptagonals, while the hurdlers he mentored captured four championships. Stephanie King won her fourth and fifth Heps hurdle titles, running 13.85 at the conference meet and finishing fourth at the ECACs outdoors. The relay teams he tutored had an outstanding season, as the women’s 4x100m team won its sixth consecutive Ivy League title and holds the league record at 46.04. Additionally, the indoor and outdoor 4x400m teams were victorious also holding Ivy best marks at 3:40.06 and 3:36.04, respectively. Three of his former athletes, Darren Roach, Lauren Kulik and Susie (Curtis) Schneider, have been added Cornell’s prestigious Athletics Hall of Fame.
Before coming to Cornell, Bowman coached for three years at Kansas, where, in addition to working toward his doctorate in exercise physiology, he helped the Jayhawks to three consecutive Big Eight Conference championships. When he came to Cornell, he helped the men’s team to a 1985 Heps title, coaching three jump champions, including Chris Chrysostomou, who set a school record of 26-2 in the long jump. He has coached Olympian Curt Hampstead (high hurdles), Trinidad national champion Mike Saunders (triple jump), Lauren Kulik, a two-time ECAC triple jump champion, and three out of the last five Cornell senior women athletic MVP’s in Katy Jay, Hannah Garrity and Jamie Greubel.
A native of Palatine, Ill., Bowman captained Palatine-William Fremd High School to the 1969 state cross country championships. He then attended Eastern Illinois University, where he earned his bachelor of science and master’s degrees in physical education. During his senior year, Bowman’s track and field squad won the NCAA Division II championships, while his cross country team finished fourth in the nation.
After earning his master’s degree in 1975, Rich spent two years as the head coach at Minooka High School. His teams won four conference titles and placed third at the Illinois championships in 1977. He coached state champions in the mile and two mile runs that year.
Bowman is also a physical education instructor at Cornell. He has coached at the USA Track and Field Elite Olympic Camp and is both Level I and Level II certified by USA Track and Field, and is currently working on his Level III certification. He has been a coach on six international track tours in Europe with the Cornell squad.
Rich and his wife, Janet, reside in Trumansburg with their two children, Theresa and Robbie.
