Cornell University Women's Track

Smith was recognized by the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association as the Womens Assistant Coach of the Year for the Northeast Region. Smith was named Associate Head Coach for Womens Track and Cross Country in February 2014.    The first five seasons of Smiths leadership saw a return to national prominence for the Big Red womens cross country and distance program as Cornell won both the 2011 and 2012 Ivy League Heptagonal cross country championships and finished second in 2013. The team has been in the top 30 of the USTFCCCA national polls in each of those five seasons, and at the NCAA Championships the Big Red placed 13 in 2012 and 23 in 2013, the best finishes by Cornell teams in twenty years. The team was ranked in the top ten in the nation at various points during the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Since 2012, fifteen different middle distance and distance women competed on 24 occasions at NCAA Preliminary Rounds in outdoor track with four moving on to the NCAA Finals on seven occasions. In the past five years alone, Cornell distance women earned eleven All-American honors and school and freshmen records were set in the 3K, 5K, 10K, and 3K Steeplechase along with freshmen records in the 800 and 4X800. During his time at Cornell, Smiths athletes have won eleven individual Heps titles, six individual ECAC titles, eight individual ECAC runner-up finishes, three individual Penn Relays victories to go along with six Penn Relays runner-up showings, and produced several qualifiers for the US Olympic Trials and USATF Outdoor Championships.  There has been considerable team success during Smiths nearly two decades of coaching on the Hill. Smith joined the coaching staff in 1999, and the womens track program has won 17 Heptagonal indoor and outdoor team titles since 2002.  He has helped guide the womens cross country team to three NCAA appearances, worked with six individual qualifiers to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, helped guide four ECAC championship cross country teams, and overseen back-to-back Ivy League cross country championships in 2011 and 2012.  In addition, Cornell became the first Ivy womens track and field program to win the ECAC team championships:  indoors in 2012 and outdoors in 2016.   Recent cross country seasons have produced some memorable team results. A heroic team effort on a snowy day at Princeton in 2011 brought the Big Red its first Ivy League cross country team title since 1998.  The following fall, the 2012 squad swept the first three individual places (only the fifth such 1-2-3 finish in League history) en route to a commanding 60 point margin of victory at the Heps, the third largest margin in meet history. Led by a pair of All-Americans in Katie Kellner '13 (also the Heps individual champion) and Rachel Sorna '14, the 2012 women's cross country team concluded a historic season with an outstanding 13th-place finish at the NCAAs, the team's best national finish since 1993 and the first time Cornell had two All-Americans at the same national championships in 20 years. Behind great senior leadership and three All-Ivy performances, the 2013 squad placed an outstanding second at the Heps and advanced to the NCAAs for the second straight year.  Sornas 14 place individual finish (the best by a Cornellian in 20 years) paced a 23 place team performance.    In the past seven seasons, nine different Cornell women have earned fourteen All-Region cross country honors: Genna Hartung '13 (twice), Caroline Kellner 16 (twice), Katie Kellner 13 (twice), Kelsey Karys '13, Devin McMahon '14, Stephanie Pancoast '10, Emily Shearer '14 (twice), Rachel Sorna 14 (twice), and Taylor Spillane 17.  Smith's teams the past five years have also maintained Cornell's tradition of success in the classroom, earning USTFCCA All-Academic Team honors, with nearly two dozen Cornell women's cross country team members honored by inclusion in the Cornell Athletic Department's "400 Club" which recognizes student-athletes who have maintained over a 4.0 GPA.  McMahon was honored by the NCAA with the Elite 89 Award for the top GPA at the 2013 NCAA Division I Womens Cross Country Championships and Shearer earned a prestigious Marshall Scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Both were recognized as COSIDA Academic All-Americans.   The 2015-16 academic year was another strong one for Smiths group. The cross country team was in the national rankings yet again after finishing as the top NCAA team at the highly competitive Paul Short Run. Taylor Spillane and Caroline Kellner earned All-Ivy honors for the second straight year with Kellner earning All-Northeast Region honors for the second time in her career. In track, the middle distance and distance teams were key cogs in the Big Reds second place indoor and third place outdoor Heps finishes. A Heps title from Caroline Kellner in the 10K was the fourth title in that event in six years for Cornell and at the ECAC Championships, freshman Eve Glasergreen won the 5K. The middle distance and distance group, led by a 1-4-6 showing in the 5K to go along with scoring efforts in the 800, 1500 and 3K steeplechase, accounted for 27 points in leading Cornell to the ECAC team title, the first ever by an Ivy League team.    The 2014-15 school year boasted a cross country season in which two school records were set by Taylor Spillane and a young team saw considerable improvement with Spillane and Caroline Kellner earning All-Ivy and All-Northeast Region honors. During the track seasons, freshmen records in the 800 and 4X800 as well as All-Ivy showings from Caroline Kellner and the 4X800 and All-East performances from Claire DeVoe and Kristen Niedrach highlighted another successful campaign.   In 2014 on the track, Sorna set school records in the 3K, 5K, and 3K steeplechase (the latter an Ivy Record) en route to a fantastic fourth place First Team All American performance at the NCAAs in the steeplechase. She was also honored as the Charles Moore Outstanding Senior Athlete of the Year at Cornell. Indoors, Emily Shearer and Sorna finished 1-2 in the ECAC Indoor 3000 meters, with Shearer breaking Sornas school record.   In 2013 on the track, Smiths womens distance runners were a powerful force at the Ivy Championships, both indoors and outdoors, going 1-2-3 in the indoor 3K, 2-3 in the indoor 5K, 1-3-4-6 in the 10K, 1-2-4 in the 3K steeplechase, 2-4 in the outdoor 5K and 2-5 in the outdoor 3K. At the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships, both Sorna (3K Steeplechase) and Kellner (10K) earned First Team All-American honors while Hartung (3K Steeplechase) earned an Honorable Mention citation. Indoors in 2013, Sorna earned Second Team All-American honors in the 5000 after setting Cornell school records in both the 3000 and 5000.    In 2012 on the track, Kellner and Hartung both qualified for the NCAA Finals in Des Moines, Iowa, with Hartung taking Second-Team All-America status in the steeplechase and Kellner claiming Honorable Mention honors in the 10K.     Over the past eleven years, the Cornell womens distance runners have had significant success at the national level as four steeplechasers (Robyn Ellerbrock 07 in 2007, Pancoast in 2009 and 2010, Hartung in 2012 and 2013, and Sorna in 2013 and 2014), four 5,000 meter runners (Kate Boyles 05, Emily McCabe 06, and Toni-Lynn Salucci 07, and Sorna in 2013) and two 10K runners (Katie Kellner in 2012 and 2013 and Caroline Kellner in 2016) competed at the NCAA Finals.    Also during his time at Cornell, Smith has helped Coach Lou Duesing develop the Big Red middle distance program, and took over the coaching of the group in 2015.  Three Cornell athletes have competed at the NCAA Finals in the 800 since 2005, earning five All-American awards, winning six Heps titles in the 800, and setting several Ivy League records in the middle distance events.  In 2016 the Big Red had the most 1500 runners of any school at the NCAA Preliminary Round.  After graduation, Morgan Uceny 07 went on to win USATF titles in the 1500 in 2011 and 2012, was ranked #1 in the world in 2011 by , and advanced to the finals of the IAAF World Championships in 2011 and the London Olympic Games of 2012.  Kim Standridge 11 earned All-American honors in the 800 in 2010.   A coach at Cornell since 1999, Smith completed his Ph.D. in history from Duke University in 2006 and also spent several years as an assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell.  Smith continues to serve the College as a faculty advisor. As a dean, Smith worked closely with undergraduate students in shaping their curricula and in navigating the academic environment at Cornell as well as overseeing other academic administrative duties. His doctoral dissertation, which utilizes oral history as well as traditional documentary sources, is entitled Coaching and Community During Jim Crow: A History of the Golden Era of the CIAA, and tells the story of the first intercollegiate athletic conference among Historically Black Colleges. He earned his masters degree in history from Duke in 1998, writing a thesis that explores the role of sport in African American communities during Jim Crow. Smith also holds USATF Level I and Level II (endurance) coaching certificates.    From 1997 through 2005, Smith served as a consultant with CBS, NBC, USA and ESPN in the coverage of the Penn Relays, the NCAA championships, the USATF championships and the Olympic Trials, among other meets. Smith also helps administer the Big Reds summer cross country and track and field camps and is the meet director for Cornells home cross country and track meets.   Smith is also the author of a forthcoming book chronicling Cornell track and fields nearly century-long involvement in the TransAtlantic Series with Oxford and Cambridge.  Entitled , the book will be published in 2017.   Before returning to Cornell, Smith spent three years as a graduate assistant coach at Duke University, where he worked with the mens and womens cross country and track teams. In 1998, Smiths third season as an assistant, the Duke men qualified for the NCAA cross country championships for the first time since 1971 and saw their first-ever individual NCAA qualifier on the womens side. During the track season, Smith worked with the middle distance and distance groups at Duke.   A 1996 cum laude graduate of Cornell with a double major in history and Africana studies, Smith captained the Big Red cross country squad his senior year and was president of the Red Key Athletic Honorary Society. As an athlete for the Big Red cross country and track teams, he was the recipient of the John Reif Memorial Award, the John Moakley Award and the Clarence Spindler Award while competing in the distance events.   A native of Oak Park, Illinois, Smith resides in Ithaca.  Artie Smith

Simms group helped the men win the 2016 Outdoor Heptagonal title in record-setting fashion, and the women played an integral part in winning the outdoor ECAC title in 2016.  Triple jumper Bobby Plummer headlined the Heps-clinching group, winning the indoor IC4A title to go along with the outdoor Heps crown (15.99m) in route to advancing to the NCAA Championships, where he earned Honorable Mention All-American honors.  Alex Rodriguez in the lC4A long jump (7.57m) and Myles Lazarou in the Heps high jump (2.14m) were also titlists. Kate Gulbrandsen led the women, earning All-Ivy and All-East honors in the high jump (1.79m). In all, Simms coached two Heps champions, two IC4A champions and had four athletes reach the NCAA First Round in just his first year at Cornell. Simms brings an impressive resume to his coaching duties with the Big Red.  A six-time All-American, NCAA Division I National Champion, and USATF National Champion, he also has a wealth of coaching experience.  Simms comes to Cornell from California State University Los Angeles, where he was an assistant coach for jumps and multi-events. At Cal State L.A., he coached three jumpers to Division II National Championships and All-West Region honors. Seven of his athletes were named to All-California Collegiate Athletic Association teams. As an assistant coach at the University of Idaho in 2013, Simms saw one of his jumpers earn All-American honors after finishing sixth at the NCAA Division I Championships in the pole vault with a leap of 18 feet. He also led the teams jumpers to two NCAA regional qualifiers, a Western Athletic Conference championship, two school records and six All-WAC honors. Simms was also an assistant coach at Davidson College, where he worked with sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers from 2008-11, and at Utica College, where he coached the programs jumpers to five school records and two conference titles, during the 2011 season.     Simms has worked with numerous Olympic level athletes, he assisted Shakeema Wlesch in her 2008 Olympic run where she finished runner-up at the 2008 USA Olympic trials in the triple jump (4610). In 2014, he worked with Cuban Olympic pole vaulter Daylis Cabellero (14 feet, 9 inches). In 2015, he coached Skype Morrison to a personal best performance (21 feet, 5 inches) in the long jump and a top-15 ranking in the nation.   In his own collegiate days at the University of Southern California, Simms was the 2003 NCAA Indoor Champion in the triple jump, breaking the school and Pacific-10 Conference records with a mark of 56 feet, 7.5 inches. He earned All-America honors six times at USC and was the 2005 West Region Field Athlete of the Year. In 2004, he earned a Pac-10 triple jump title and won the long and triple jumps at the NCAA West Region Championships. In addition to his accomplishments at USC, Simms saw success on the national and international scale. He was the 2004 United States champion in the indoor triple jump, and at USA Junior Nationals in 2001, he swept the long and triple jump titles, becoming the first athlete in meet history to complete such a feat. He also represented the United States at the 2003 and 2005 World Outdoor Track & Field Championships and at the 2004 and 2006 World Indoor Championships.  He finished sixth in the triple jump at the 2008 U.S. Olympic trials and third at the 2010 USA Indoor Championship. Simms is an International Association of Athletics Federations Level 4 Jumps coach and holds a USA Track & Field Level I Coaching Certificate. He graduated from USC in 2005 with a bachelors degree in multimedia technology and earned a Master of Art in liberal studies and a graduate certificate in global studies from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro in 2014.Allen Simms

Holt enters her fifth season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Cornell womens cross country and track staff in 2016-17. Holt has been an instrumental part of the Big Red coaching staff and Cornell has won Ivy League team titles in cross country and outdoor track since her arrival on the Hill. The 2012 Big Red cross country team placed 13th at the NCAA Championships and the 2013 squad was 23rd in a return appearance. Holt also works closely with the distance runners throughout the track season, helping mentor a group that produced nine All-American honors during her first four years with Cornell. Holt came to Cornell after two successful years working with the womens middle distance and distance runners at Ithaca College.   A 2010 graduate of SUNY Cortland, Holt earned a degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Science. At Ithaca College, Holt worked to complete her Master's degree in Human Performance while coaching with the Bombers track and cross country staff.   A USATF Level One certified coach, she also is a key part of the Big Reds meet management operations for home competitions. On a day-to-day basis, Holt works most closely with womens middle distance and distance runners in both cross country and track.   While an undergraduate at Cortland, Holt competed on the cross country and track and field teams and was the recipient of the Red Dragon Red Letter Award in cross country. She was a SUNYAC Champion and qualified for the NCAA Championships both as an individual and with her team.   Lisa resides in Ithaca, N.Y. Updated 8/10/16

Bowman works primarily with the mens and womens sprint-hurdlers and relay teams, coaching Big Red athletes to over 150 Ivy League and Heptagonal Championships. Under his direction, four teams  2011 cross country, 2012 outdoor track and field, 2012 cross country, and 2013 outdoor track and field  have won Ivy League/Heptagonal team titles over the last five seasons. Two teams 2012 indoor track and field and 2016 outdoor track and field have won championships at the ECAC meets, the first Ivy teams ever to accomplish this feat. Currently, 45 school marks are held by athletes he has coached, while 30 womens teams have won Ivy League/Heptagonal conference titles during his tenure on East Hill in the capacity as head or assistant coach. One of the athletic departments longest tenured coaches, Bowman was voted the Northeast Regions Outdoor Division I Coach of the Year in both 2012 and 2013, and won the Ivy League Coach of the Year award in 2016. In 2015-2016, a young Big Red womens cross country team finished sixth at the Ivy League/Heptagonal Championships and ninth in the NCAA Northeast Regional. Both Caroline Kellner and Taylor Spillane were named to the All-Ivy team based on their efforts at Heps. In track, he guided the Big Red to unprecedented success, as the womens squad captured Gold (ECAC Outdoor Championship), Silver (Indoor Ivy League Championship) and Bronze (Outdoor Ivy League Championship). The 2017 co-captains, Adrian Jones and Taysia Radoslav had outstanding seasons, both qualified for the NCAA East Regionals in the 200 meter dash and 400 meter hurdles, respectively. Jones established herself among the top sprinters on the East Coast, finishing with two second place finishes in the Ivy Championships. She ran seven races at the outdoor ECACs, finishing fourth in the 200 meter to put the Red over the top in the team scoring. Radoslav was equally amazing, establishing a new school record in the 400 meter hurdles at 56.48 and just missing a berth for the NCAA Finals in Eugene, OR.  She won the Ontario Seniors and was a finalist in the Canadian Olympic Trials in Edmonton. Taysia represented her country internationally in El Salvador, winning a bronze medal for Team Canada.  The 2016 outdoor squad took first at the UC Riverside meet in March, winning four events, was third at the outdoor Ivy League meet, highlighted by Caroline Kellners 10,000 meter win, and completed the team part of the year by winning a first ever ECAC crown. The Red had seven individual qualifiers for the NCAA East Regional as Caroline Kellner advanced to the NCAA Finals, garnering honorable mention All-American honors in the 10K. Indoors, the Red finished second at the conference tilt, crowning individual champion Leena Morris in the womens weight throw. The team performed well at many large invitationals and captured the Upstate Challenge in January - validating its hold as New York States top Division I program - on the strength of five event wins. Both the womens cross country and track and field squads were named Academic-All-American teams in 2016 by the USTFCCCA group.  The Red also had six individual athletes earn Academic All-American status, and Caroline Kellner was voted CoSIDA Academic All-District. Under Bowman, Big Red hurdlers have collected 14 conference titles, while 21 indoor and outdoor 4x400 meter relay teams have won league championships. Eight of his athletes Darren Roach, Lauren Kulik , Susie (Curtis) Schneider, Katie Jay, Hannah Garrity, Shonda Brown, Jessica Brown and Jamie Greubel have entered Cornells prestigious Hall of Fame. Before coming to Cornell, Bowman coached for three years at the University of Kansas, where, in addition to working towards his doctorate in exercise physiology, he helped the Jayhawks to three consecutive Big Eight Conference championships and was an assistant to the director of the Kansas Relays, legendary coach, Bob Timmons.  When he came to Cornell, he helped the mens team to a 1985 Heps title, coaching three jump champions, including Chris Chrysostomou who continues to hold the Ivy League record in the long jump at 26-2. He has coached Olympians Curt Hampstead (high hurdles) and Jamie Greubel, former Trinidad national champion Mike Saunders (triple jump), Lauren Kulik, a two-time ECAC triple jump champion, and five Cornell senior women athletic MVPs in Katy Jay, Hannah Garrity, Jamie Greubel, Jeomi Maduka and Udeme Akpaete. 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 masters degrees in education. During his senior year, Bowman was part of the Panthers track and field squad that won the NCAA Division II Championships, while his cross country team finished fourth in the nation. He was recently (2013) honored at his alma mater with a Lifetime Achievement Award. After earning his masters 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 State Championships in 1977. He coached state champions in the mile and two-mile runs that year. 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 eight international track tours in Europe with the Cornell squad. Rich and his wife, Janet, reside in the Finger Lakes town of Trumansburg and have two children, Theresa and Rob. Updated 8/12/16  Rich Bowman