As the Director of Track and Field & Cross Country for the Vandals, Cawley has 21 years of collegiate coaching experience. In just six years with the Vandals, he has already made a tremendous impact on the program. Cawley is driven daily by the mission of Idaho Track and Field & Cross Country to create and foster a culture that thrives on excellence in character, academics, and athletics, while focusing on the process in a positive and collaborative environment. By the numbers, Cawley has coached an Olympic Bronze Medalist, 72 Conference Champions, 62 School Records, 38 NCAA Championship Qualifiers, and 24 USA Championship Qualifiers.
In addition to his collegiate experience, Cawley has vast experience on the international and professional scene, including coaching Janay DeLoach to an Olympic Bronze Medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Cawley has the experience and acquired knowledge to prepare athletes to be the best in the world. Cawley has served on numerous Team USA coaching staffs, working closely with the top athletes in the world. Cawley has worked with top athletes in the World at all levels, serving as the jumps coach for Team USA at the U-20 World Junior Outdoor Championships in 2014, the jumps coach for the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in 2017, the jumps coach for the 2018 NACAC Championships, the jumps coach for the 2019 Pan-Am Championships, and the head coach for the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 2016. As personal and collegiate coach of Olympic Medalist Janay DeLoach for 11 years, Cawley traveled the globe as DeLoach racked up Nine top 3 USA Championship finishes in the long jump, hurdles and multis, many top 10 world rankings, 1 World Championship Silver Medal, and 1 Olympic Bronze Medal.
Cawley’s first season (2014-15) with the Vandals was a year for development, as the coaching staff worked on growing its young talent toward the future. Cawley hired the staff at Idaho and began signing top athletes in the country. The hard work paid off in the long run, but the Vandals also saw an immediate impact in track season as Dylan Watts and Katelyn Peterson were crowned Big Sky Conference Champions in the Men’s Pole Vault and Women’s High Jump, respectively. Holly Stanton and Alycia Butterworth finished the season at the NCAA Championships in the Women’s Steeple Chase. In cross country, the women’s team learned to embrace and thrive in a positive and collaborative environment, while the men raced with heart, exceeding expectations by finishing in fourth place at the Big Sky Conference Championships.
In his second year (2015-16) at Idaho, the student-athletes began to thrive on the track and in the classroom. With women’s cross country, men’s cross country, women’s track and field, and men’s track and field teams earning All-Academic Team honors, and Kinsey Gomez being awarded as the NCAA Elite 90 selection out of all Division I Track and Field athletes in the country, excellence in academics became the culture of the team. The team thrived on the field as well. While the men’s cross country team strategically redshirted team members for future development, the remaining three sports all achieved higher finishes than the previous seasons, moving up in the Big Sky Conference rankings. Women’s cross country finished in 4th place, moving up seven places in just one year. On the track, Gomez started the season breaking the school record in the women’s 10K. Cawley coached sophomore Arphaxad Carroll to a Conference Champion title in the men’s long jump. The program had two other Big Sky Conference Champions as Ben Ayesu-Attah won the men’s 400 and Kinsey Gomez won the women’s 5000. Carroll, Ayesu-Attah, and Gomez competed at the NCAA Championships along with Matt Sullivan (men’s pole vault), and men’s javelin throwers Derek Haas and Ian Middleton. Gomez and Carroll ended the season as NCAA 2nd Team All-Americans.
In 2016-17, the Vandals saw tremendous improvements during the cross country season, finishing fourth on both the men’s and women’s sides. This tied their best performances since returning to the Big Sky. Kara Story was excellent all season long, including a ninth-place finish at the Big Sky Championships in Moscow, earning Freshman of the Year honors from the conference. The men competed just behind the NCAA National Championship team. Both the men’s and women’s teams advanced to the NCAA West Region Championship.
The indoor track and field season saw another Freshman of the Year award for the Vandals, with Rechelle Meade taking home the honors. Meade finished third in both the long jump and high jump competitions at the Big Sky Indoor Championships. Freshman Ben Doucette also jumped onto the scene in a major way, winning the 60-meter hurdles.
Both the men’s and women’s teams produced their highest number of points at the Outdoor Big Sky Conference Championship as the level of talent continued to grow on the team. The men’s and women’s teams also produced their highest academic finish with both teams breaking into the Top 50 on the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team list with a 3.27 and 3.50 respectively. The outdoor season saw five Vandals advance to the NCAA Outdoor Championships First Round in Austin, led by Meade. Meade was sensational all season, setting the Idaho school record in the long jump, moving into fourth in school history in the high jump and earning Freshman of the Year honors again. She would go on to compete in both events at the NCAA Championships. Meade was selected to compete for the country of Anguilla at the World Championships in London. Doucette (110-hurdles), Kaizer Gillispie (400-hurdles), Mack Baxter (400-meters) and Nathan Stark (3000-meter steeplechase) also competed at the NCAA Championships. Baxter and Gillispie won their respective events at the Big Sky Conference Championships.
In 2017-18, cross country continued their streak of excellence. The men matched the fourth place finish from the previous season. The women took it to a new level with a podium finish at third place. Krista Story secured a top ten finish, placing seventh at the Big Sky Championships in Ogden. Indoors, the men continued to improve with many All-Conference performances, most of which were completed by freshmen and sophomores. Sophomore Zack Short was the highlight as he won his first Big Sky Conference Championship in the men’s shot put. He would go on in the outdoor season to win the outdoor championship title as well. Kasin Pendergrass-Anderson earned Big Sky Freshman of the Year honors after taking second in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump. Rechelle Meade broke the school record in the indoor women’s long jump. With 11 student-athletes contributing to Top-3 performances, the men’s and women’s teams both earned the greatest number of points, and their highest team finishes yet, at a Big Sky Indoor Championship. The men’s finish led the team to decide to redshirt most of the men’s team in the outdoor season to build for the future. Zack Short did not redshirt and earned his first NCAA National Championship berth. Short was joined by Austin Beyer (men’s javelin), and Andie Condie (women’s 10k). The other highlight for the women’s team was their display of academic excellence. The women posted a 3.69 GPA to finish 3rd in the country on the USTFCCCCA All-Academic Team list.
2018-19 was all about improvement and showing how the teams were growing and building. Women’s cross country saw two women place in the top 10 at the Big Sky Championship for the first time. Kara Story took third and Andie Condie took eighth. The women continued to hold steady with a fourth place finish. Meanwhile on the track, it sounds like a broken record, but once again the men’s and women’s teams moved up in place and points at the conference championships. The men placed 5th at both championships, while the women took 8th indoor and 9th outdoor. In the classroom, the men earned a 3.27 to be 37th in the country, while the women earned a 3.66 to finish 3rd in the country based on academic performance! At the indoor championships, Idaho swept the shot put titles. Hannah Ringel went home a champion, as did Zack Short. At the Championship, Short punched his ticket to the NCAA Indoor National Championships where he finished as a 2nd Team All-American. Rechelle Meade won the women’s indoor long jump. At the outdoor BSC Championships, Jonny Magee had a fairytale ending to his college career in the men’s triple jump with a second place finish, and ending the competition with a lifetime best. Going into his final championship, his highest placing historically was a 6th place finish.
Outdoors, Meade broke the outdoor school record in the long jump at the Big Sky Conference Championships on her second jump of the meet. Heading into finals, Meade was the top seed. In the final round of jumps, freshman teammate Henrike Fiedler jumped 6.20 to surpass Meade and break the school record, while also earning the title of Big Sky Conference Champion. The Vandals took home 1-2. Fiedler and Meade went on to compete at the NCAA Championships in the women’s long jump. They were joined by teammates Zack Short (men’s shot put), Austin Beyer (men’s javelin), Zach Nunis (men’s long jump), and Andie Condie (women’s 10k).
At last, 2019-20. A culmination of the legacies left by past teammates and the future they each helped build. You could smell it in the air. The culture of the team was thriving. The family atmosphere, the positive attitudes, the determination and grit. Idaho Track and Field and Cross Country was achieving excellence in character, academics, and athletics while focusing on the process in a positive and collaborative environment. Women’s cross country didn’t have a top ten contender, but they had a team ready to run as a group and they were determined. The women packed four in the Top 20 and came away with a 2nd place finish at the Big Sky Cross Country Championships. While they showed their athletic prowess, they also showcased their academic smarts. The women finished 5th in the country in the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team list for cross country with a 3.86. The men’s cross country team finished with their highest GPA as well, earning a 3.42. The indoor season was one of celebrations. Countless personal bests, a 4th place finish for the men and a 5th place finish for the women – new records for each team since our return to the BSC. Each team also earned the most points yet. Rechelle Meade and Zack Short closed out their senior seasons with another Big Sky Conference title - Meade in the women’s long jump and Short in the men’s shot put. Meanwhile, the freshmen showed they were ready to make big contributions to the team as well. Spencer Barrera ran a personal best at the Championship in the men’s 400 to win the event. Freshmen Kelsey Swenson earned Big Sky Women’s Freshman of the Year honors after placing second in the 5k and fifth in the 3k. In the jumps squad, the women’s triple jumpers had an incredible BSC meet. Jordyn Rauer, who had started as a walk-on to the team four years earlier, would take 5th in the long jump (an event she had never previously scored in) and end her day on the Big Sky All-Conference Team after finishing 2nd in the triple jump. Rauer joined with teammates Karina Moreland (3rd) and Tayler LyDay (4th) to take three of the top four spots in the conference in the women’s triple jump. Adding in the Julia Hayes’ fourth place finish in the women’s high jump, the women’s jump squad earned more than half of the women’s team points at the Championship.
The team was on fire and could not wait for 2020 outdoors where the team expected to perform even better. Sadly, in March the season was halted due to coronavirus. While there was no opportunity to showcase their athletic talents, the team stayed connected through team events over Zoom with Bingo events, scavenger hunts, and other ways to pass the time of quarantine. The teams focused on their academic goals and the men finished with their highest GPA yet of 3.42 to be 34th in the country, while the women earned a 3.74 to finish 6th in the country.
Cawley spent the previous 11 seasons at Colorado State where he spent time coaching jumps, Multis, pole vault, sprints, hurdles and relays. While at CSU, Cawley coached eight All-American performances, 23 NCAA Championship qualifiers, 17 conference champions and several NCAA Regional qualifiers. His last two season in Fort Collins were spent as the head assistant coach, acting as a resource to the other assistant and volunteer coaches.
During the 2012 season Cawley was awarded the Order of Ikkos Medal for coaching Janay DeLoach to her Olympic Bronze Medal. In addition, Cawley coached DeLoach to win the silver medal in the 60m hurdles at the 2014 USA Indoor Championships and place fifth in the 60m hurdles at the 2014 International Association of Athletes Federations (IAAF) World Championships.
Prior to Colorado State, Cawley was an assistant at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. During his stint with the Panthers Cawley oversaw sprints, hurdles, jumps, pole vault, javelin, hammer and assisted in the day-to-day operations of the program. In two seasons, Cawley coached 43 conference champions and 21 school records.
Cawley is also known in track communities for his development of a sprint sled to help runners in the starting blocks. The sled, now sold by Gill Athletics, is specifically designed to be pulled over the starting blocks, helping runners get into the correct positioning as they train.
Cawley earned his degree in art education from the University of Wyoming, where he competed in the jumps and was on the 4x100m relay team. At the NCAA Championships, he earned All-American honors in 1998 in the long jump and also competed in the triple jump. In 2008 he finished in the top ten at the USA Indoor Championships in the triple jump.
After graduating from Wyoming, Cawley began his coaching career as a volunteer coach at Colorado School of Mines in 1999. From 1999-2000 he served as a graduate assistant at West Virginia, before being hired on at Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
