NEW ORLEANS, La. —Former legendary Frostburg State head coach Dr. Robert Lewis was among the six coaches who will be inducted in this year’s class of the U. S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s 2015 Coaches Hall of Fame.
Spanning over 30 years, Lewis’ coaching career began at Frostburg in 1970 and lasted until 2001. In between, Lewis elevated both the track & field and cross country programs to national prominence.
Dr. Robert Lewis
“This recognition is really for the entire Frostburg State University program of track and field and cross country, not just me,” said Lewis. “We have benefited so much from the work of other coaches, most particularly that of Dr. Charles Hircock, who coordinated our recruiting efforts and coached the throwing events for three decades. We were very fortunate to have had many graduate-assistant coaches who did outstanding work, and, obviously, our athletes– many of whom were from western Maryland–were exceptionally talented, motivated, and competitive.”
He guided his track & field teams to NCAA Division III National Championships during the indoor season in 1986 and during the outdoor seasons in 1986 and 1987. Lewis was selected as the NCAA Div. III National Track & Field Coach of the Year three times and NCAA Division III South/Southeast Region Cross Country Coach of the Year three times.
He led the FSU men’s and women’s cross country teams to a pair of top-10 and 10 top-20 national finishes with 11 Mason-Dixon Conference championships and 18 championships as a member of other conferences. He also guided the teams to a combined 56 victories at invitational meets.
During his track & field coaching career, 68 of Lewis’s athletes received All-American honors and turned in 113 total All-American performances. Frostburg State University produced 14 NCAA Division III National Champions and established six national meet records.
Lewis’s track & field teams produced 12 top-10 Div. III finishes and his final team in 2001 finished third nationally. The Bobcat track & field programs won ECAC Indoor Championships in 1987 & 1988, captured Mason-Dixon Conference Championship titles 29 times, won 22 invitational meets and posted a 117-4 overall record against rivals Towson, Salisbury and UMBC.
FSU Hall of Famer and former men’s track participant, Carl Schuler, won the 1978 NAIA National Championship in the 2-mile walk and was a member of the 1980, 1984, 1988 and 1992 U.S. Olympic track & field teams.
“I am also very appreciative of the extensive newspaper coverage given to our teams by the Cumberland Times-News; that publicity was important to us in our endeavors to promote the Bobcat runners, jumpers, and throwers,” added Lewis. “Thanks to all of our former coaches and athletes, I have wonderful memories of my 31 years as a coach at Frostburg.”
Lewis became the 162nd inductee in the Frostburg Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the class of 2010. He is Frostburg’s first USTFCCCA Hall of Fame inductee. Lewis currently serves as a professor in Frostburg’s department of kinesiology.
The 2015 Induction Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, December 15 in San Antonio, Texas as part of the USTFCCCA Convention.
August 19, 2015
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