She first set foot on the Drury University campus almost 36 years ago – in August 1980, to be exact – and her numerous roles in the athletics department, particularly for women’s athletics, has been significant.
Consider these numbers: two and 11; and 15 and 130. In order, they represent the number of women’s sports teams Drury fielded when she first arrived compared to today, plus the total number of women’s student-athletes back then compared to present day.
For Barbara Cowherd, she didn’t simply see those numbers grow. She helped make them – and dreams – happen, underscoring why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct Cowherd with the Class of 2016.
Her induction is among the highlights of the Women’s Sports Luncheon presented by the Bee Payne-Stewart Foundation, set for 11 a.m. March 23 at University Plaza Convention Center. (See ticket information below.)
“I’ve been fortunate to stay in one place for 36 years,” Cowherd said. “I had opportunities to go to other places. But Drury is very much where my heart is. I believe in what we do and how we do it.”
What Drury does well is put its student-athletes and coaches in position to enjoy success, and Cowherd’s passion for her unsung roles – grunt work, she calls it – has certainly helped to elevate women’s athletics on a quaint campus with only 1,600 daytime students and which for years competed in NAIA before a mid-1990s jump to NCAA Division II.
“One thing I’m most proud of is that, as we progressed from the AIAW (Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women) to the NAIA and to the NCAA as well as changed conferences, we created opportunities for both of our programs, men’s and women’s,” Cowherd said. “We haven’t had to cut a program. We haven’t had to use one as a stepping stone for another.”
A Texas transplant, Cowherd graduated from East Newton High School in 1975 and earned one of the first three women’s scholarships to Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, where she primarily played basketball but also softball, track and volleyball. Cowherd, who was inducted into the MSSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1993, was a two time All-Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC) selection in basketball, and a national qualifier in the javelin as a senior in 1979. She was also a co-captain in volleyball for four years and in basketball for one. She also was named MSSC’s Outstanding Female Student-Athlete as a junior and was the outstanding senior volleyball player.
After earning a master’s at Pittsburg State, Cowherd built Drury volleyball into a perennial Top 20 program in NAIA as she compiled a school-best 487-354 record in 20 seasons. Her teams reached the national tournament, and Cowherd was Coach the Year in 1988 for District 16. She also coached tennis four years, taking three teams to the national tournament.
To Cowherd, her greatest accomplishments came in roles as assistant athletic director (1999-2003) and associate athletic director (2003 to present). While in both roles, she served as Drury’s senior woman administrator.
Cowherd has served on regional and national ranking committees within the NAIA and NCAA D-II, and as a tournament director for a variety of sport championships over the years.
Cowherd aided in the design and transition into the $13.5 million O’Reilly Family Event Center that opened in 2010. When the athletic department moved from old Weiser Gym to the O’Reilly, it was no small feat. Cowherd managed the transition of season ticket holders and seat selection – a process of examining the past decade of season-ticket holders and other boosters. That was in addition to handling internal operations, budgetary oversight and event management.
“That’s something I really enjoyed doing,” Cowherd said. “For 25 years, I had seen plans for a new building just never come together. So I was very passionate about it when we finally broke ground.”
A decade earlier, Cowherd was the lead administrator during the development of the Drury women’s basketball program from its inception in 1999.
Cowherd is quick to credit then-athletic director Bruce Harger with gaining university-wide support for the sport’s addition and then to coach Nyla Milleson for the program’s immediate popularity and respect nationally.
At the time in 1999, Cowherd was ready to move away from the world of athletics, which obviously isn’t a 9-to-5 job. The plan was to spend more time with her husband, Gene, who had always been supportive. Turned out, Cowherd found a new way, as assistant A.D., to further help women’s athletics.
What a 36 years it’s been.
“I’m most proud of maintaining the vision that we champion at Drury – excellence in academics and athletics. … I believe in our student-athletes and that Drury does things the right way,” Cowherd said, and added, “It’s great to help our student-athletes pursue their dreams and aspirations.”
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Women’s Sports Luncheon presented by the Bee Payne-Stewart Foundation
When: 11 a.m. March 23
Where: University Plaza Convention Center, Springfield
Inductees: College of the Ozarks’ Dora Quinn Arney Meikle, Drury University’s Barbara Cowherd, Mizzou volleyball coaches Wayne and Susan Kreklow and the 1975 Licking High School volleyball team that won the first volleyball state tournament.
Wynn Awards: Missouri State field hockey standout Marjorie (DeMarino) Bankovich; Camdenton High School soccer standout Monique (Willcut) Begley; Springfield Catholic High School hurdles champion Angie (Bullock) Homeyer; Monett High School basketball and track standout Angela (Beckett) Johnson; Springfield angler Julie Martin; Lebanon High School/Mizzou golfer Kerry (Speaker) North; and Jamie Vest, a cross country standout from Stoutland and Missouri State University.
Tickets: An individual ticket is $40. A head table ticket is $100. A table of eight is $400 and includes associate sponsor recognition in the printed program. Sponsorships also are available. Call the Hall of Fame at 417-889-3100.
