James McCowan has been the head coach of Vassar Men’s and Women’s Cross Country since 2005, and served as head coach of the men’s and women’s track programs from their founding in 2008 until 2021.
On the cross country course, McCowan has coached the Brewers to multiple top-10 NCAA Regional Cross Country finishes, and has seen his athletes qualify for the NCAA National Championships five times since 2008. Colin Sanders (‘08) is the Brewers highest finisher at Nationals with an All-American finish of 19th, and, in all, athletes have qualified for the national cross country championships seven times under McCowan’s tenure. In 2019, the women's cross country team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III National Championship after finishing fifth at the NCAA Regional meet - marking the Brewers' first team appearance at Nationals. In 2021, the men's team received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III National Championship meet after a program-best fourth place finish at the regional meet. The women’s cross country team has won the Seven Sisters Championship twice, and both the men’s and women’s cross country teams finished in the Liberty League’s top-three every year from 2008-2012.
McCowan transitioned the track program from a club into a burgeoning national caliber NCAA D-III program. He has coached athletes to eight NCAA National Championship qualifications since 2011, as well as one USATF Junior National qualifier, Aubree Piepmeier (‘14). Since the Varsity Track program’s founding in 2008, student-athletes have qualified for the ECAC championships over 80 times in 12 different events ranging from 100m-10,000m. McCowan has coached ECAC Champions in the 400m, 800m, 5,000m and 10,000m, and coached 27 Liberty League Champions in events ranging from the javelin to the 10,000m.
In 2014, McCowan saw the track programs have its biggest season to date, especially on the women's side. The track programs saw their first-ever All-Americans crowned, as Heather Ingraham finished fourth in the nation at the NCAA Championships in the 400 meter dash. Senior Aubree Piepmeier earned All-American honors as well in the 5,000 meter run, finishing fifth overall. In 2015, McCowan coached Ingraham to Vassar College's first-ever national championship, as she posted a win in the 400 meters at the 2015 NCAA National Championships.
“Cross Country and Track at Vassar are interlinked with the Liberal Arts mission of our school, and as educators we provide each student-athlete with the opportunities and direction necessary to develop trust in themselves and to foster the skills they need to succeed,” says Coach McCowan. “We are looking for each student-athlete to excel and grow as we aspire to perennial NCAA championship representation for our programs.”
James McCowan first joined the coaching staff at Vassar as the Assistant Cross Country coach in 2004, and previously served as an Assistant Coach to the Cross Country and Track programs at Springfield College and as a volunteer assistant to an NCAA qualifying women’s Cross Country program at Brandeis University. A 1999 graduate of Vassar College, McCowan was an Anthropology major and as a student-athlete was an NCAA Cross Country Regional Champion and All-American runner himself. McCowan earned his Master of Education in Sport Performance from Springfield College in 2006, and is a USATF Level II Certified Coach in Sprints and Relays, as well as in Endurance events.
