Spring Arbor University is excited to announce the hiring of James "CJ" Fowler as head coach of the men's and women's track & field teams.
SAU Athletic Director Ryan Cottingham stated, "We are thrilled to welcome Coach Fowler to the Cougar family. He is a Christ-follower whose vision and philosophy aligns exceptionally well with our mission. CJ's passion and energy is contagious. He is an excellent communicator and our student-athletes are going to flourish under his leadership."
"I'd like to thank Coach Cottingham and the search committee for giving me the opportunity to disciple a program at Spring Arbor," said Fowler. "It's an honor to be chosen to lead the program, and I'm excited and eager to get started!"
A native of Dallas, Texas, Fowler comes to Spring Arbor from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He served as the sprints and relays coach while with the Chargers, an NCAA Division II institution, and he was responsible for coaching the sprinters, hurdlers, jumpers, multi's and mid-distance. His duties included providing off-season training cycles, strength training and speed development for all athletes, as well as recruiting and community relations.
In addition to his time at UAH, Fowler has also served as the director of Sprinter University since 2015 – a program designed to teach sprinting at an elite level for athletes looking to compete in college and work with post-collegiate sprinters. The program runs a full college meet schedule with Fowler's responsibilities including scheduling, budgeting and travel planning, along with preparing young athletes for college.
Fowler has also spent time coaching in the high school ranks, serving as an assistant coach at Chisholm Trail High School for the past seven years. Under his direction, the Rangers have won district and area championships, earned a fifth place finish at the state championship, set 13 school records and have had 17 regional qualifiers and nine state qualifiers.
Fowler is a graduate of the University of North Texas and has a master's degree from Texas A&M at Commerce. As a student-athlete at NCAA Division I North Texas, he was a six-time national qualifier, three-time Sun Belt Conference gold medalist, and a five-time All-Sun Belt Conference sprinter. He started his collegiate career at Union College (Ky.) where he was an NAIA All-American and a member of the 2010 outdoor 4x100 meter relay national champion team that still holds the school record with a time of 40.41.
Bryan Burk, who had been serving as the interim Director of Cross Country and Track & Field, will now serve as the Head Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track Coach while Erika Vogel will continue to serve as the Head Assistant Trach & Field Coach.
