John Rowland, Assistant Director of Athletics and Senior Coach of Cross Country and Track, is in 22nd year of involvement in the Georgia State cross country and track program. Previously, he competed as an athlete, as well as serving as a graduate assistant for the men’s and women’s cross country and track programs.
Rowland has been the guiding force for the track program for men and women over the last 15 years. Last year, Rowland guided Mark Steeds to CAA Track Athlete of the Year. Overcoming an injury that caused him to miss the cross country season, Steeds peaked under Rowland’s tutelage in the spring. Steeds qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 5000m with a school-record 13:52.89 at Stanford and finished 12th at the NCAAs. That marked a third NCAA Regional male qualifier in the past five years. At the CAA Championships, Steeds won the 1500m with a school record 3:45.62 to also qualify with an NCAA time. Steeds placed 3rd in the CAA Cross Country Championships in 2006-07. With Letherby’s 9th place national finish in ’97 and Steeds’ 12th last year, this marks a pair of top 20 national finishes. Rowland brought in Jessica Graham and Eric Campbell as coaches and has supervised the continued growth of the program. During the final nine years the A-Sun held the track and field championships, Rowland saw 32 Georgia State individual athletes or relay teams win a conference championship.
In his years as a head coach, Rowland has posted five men’s Atlantic Sun Conference championships and two women’s team titles. He was named Atlantic Sun Conference Coach of the Year four times out of the five years the men captured the title. For seven straight years from 1995-2001, either the men’s or women’s teams ran to conference titles.
Rowland fondly remembers Georgia State’s first conference championship back in 1995 when Georgia State was participating in the Atlantic Sun. Before that season, the Panthers had finished in second place an impressive nine out of 11 years, falling just shy of the championship on several occasions. Finally, on the same day the Atlanta Braves won their first World Series, the Georgia State Panthers won their first cross country conference title.
That was also the first year Rowland had an NCAA national qualifier on the men’s team (Andrew Letherby). Rowland coached two NCAA National Qualifiers in Cross Country (Andrew Letherby-1995, 1996, 1997 and Julian Dwyer-1995) and also coached Letherby to the 1997 NCAA Outdoor Track National Championship where he finished 9th in the 5,000m.
Four of Rowland’s athletes have been named All-Region including Julian Dwyer (1995), Andrew Letherby (1995, 1996, & 1997), Tee Mott (1998 & 1999), and Mark Steeds (2005 & 2006). Twenty of his athletes have received All-Conference honors in Cross Country for a combined total of 35 selections and four were named Conference Cross Country Runner-of-the-Year: Chad Newton-1992, Andrew Letherby-1994, 1996 & 1997, Julian Dwyer-1995, and Paul Rickard-2003. Two of Rowland’s athletes were also named Freshman-of-the-year: Matt Cameron-2002 and Jay Morrill-2004.
The Panthers have also combined for 25 All-Conference Track selections in the men’s distance events. Five of Rowland’s athletes were Conference Champions in track including Andrew Letherby (1500m-1997), Tee Mott (800m-2001 & 2002 and 1500m-2001), Paul Rickard (5,000m-2003), Matt McMaster (1500m-2005), and Mark Steeds (1000m-2008). Rickard, McMaster, and Steeds were NCAA East Regional Qualifiers.
In 1996, Rowland was chosen to work the marathon race for the Centennial Olympic Games hosted in Atlanta that year. He’s also been involved with numerous Peachtree Road Races and has run as a "marker" for the top female finishers in that July 4 race.
"Education is important to me," says Rowland, who is currently working towards a Ph.D. in research, measurement and statistics, with a special interest in Title IX and its impact on collegiate sports. He’s also a part-time instructor for the Keller Graduate School of Management where he teaches classes in managerial mathematics and statistics. In 2002, Georgia State awarded Rowland the distinguished Sparks Award for his service to the university.
Rowland goes out of his way to make sure his personal emphasis on education carries into his program. "We are here to graduate student athletes. That’s something that I’m proud of," says Rowland. With the exception of students who leave the cross-country program, Rowland estimates his student athletes have a 95 percent or better graduation rate.
As head coach, Rowland oversees all scheduling, training, recruiting and administrative work for the cross-country teams.
Rowland ran track and cross country at Georgia State from 1987-1990, followed by his work as a graduate assistant and was eventually named to a permanent head coaching capacity in 1993. He grew the staff to bring on a women’s distance coach, Jessica Raby, in 1995 and a track coach, Eric Campbell, in 2002.
Rowland is a native of Woodstock, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. John and his wife, Taren, reside in Atlanta. Taren, reside in Atlanta.
