Rich Bowman enters his 29th year at Cornell as an assistant coach, working primarily with the men’s and women’s sprint-hurdlers and multi-events. During his time at Cornell, Bowman has coached Big Red athletes to 133 Ivy League and Heptagonal championships, while 45 school records are held by athletes whom he has coached. He has been a part of 30 men’s and women’s championship teams during his career.
At the 2008 indoor and outdoor Heptagonals, the Big Red men & women under his guidance won nine individual events. The hurdlers he mentored captured five Ivy League championships, with Saidu Ezike and Adam Seabrook both qualifying for the NCAA Championships. For the women, Joan Casey and Jessica Weyman continued the Red’s dominance in the women’s hurdles at the conference championships, winning both the 100m and 400m meter events. The relay teams he tutored had an outstanding season. The women’s 4x100m team won their seventh consecutive Ivy League title and hold the league record at 46.04, while both 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 athletes – Darren Roach, Lauren Kulik and Susie (Curtis) Schneider – have entered Cornell’s prestigious Hall of Fame.
Before coming to Cornell, Bowman coached for three years at the University of 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 six Cornell senior women athletic most valuable performers 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 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, Bowman 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 Rob.
