Head Coach Mark Phillips

Mark Phillips begins his sixth year at Cowley.  Last season was a transition year for the Cowley Cross Country / Track & Field Program’s with the addition of 2 new coaches.

Phillips led Cowley’s Men’s team to their first ever Jayhawk East Conference Triple Crown winning Championships in Cross Country, Indoor Track and Outdoor Track.  The 07 Men’s Cross Country team was also the Region VI Champions.  In 2007 the Women’s team was Jayhawk East Conference runners-up in Cross Country and Indoor Track and Conference Champs in Outdoor Track 3rd straight year.  In Phillips’ 5 years at Cowley, the program has had 8 individuals win 19 individual NJCAA National events, the teams have won 12 Jayhawk Conference titles, 4 Region VI titles and 7 top 5 team finishes at NJCAA Nationals.

Before coming to Cowley, Phillips was at Johnson County for 12 years, 4 as the Head Track & Field Coach.  During his tenure at Johnson, Phillips played a key role in a lengthy list of cross country and track team accomplishments. Phillips helped the Cavaliers:  To National Junior College Athletic Association national championships in the women's marathon and women's cross country;  Win 15 top-five NJCAA team trophies at national competitions:  To 48 cross country, indoor and outdoor track teams to top-10 national finishes;  Capture the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division team title 49 times and the Region VI team crown 11 times;  To five conference triple crowns each for men and women during his tenure;  In all, Phillips coached 273 All-Americans, nine NJCAA national champions, three NJCAA record holders, and one Olympic Festival gold medalist.

Prior to coaching at Johnson County, Phillips coached pole vault, long jump, triple jump, heptathlon and decathlon at Northwest Missouri State University in 1985 and 1986. He coached jumps, sprints, heptathlon and decathlon as an assistant at Cloud County Community College in 1988 and 1989, where he coached five All-Americans. From the fall of 1989 to the spring of 1991, he was the head cross country and track and field coach at Kansas City Kansas Community College, where he turned the program into a national contender in the sprints, coaching 34 All-Americans.

The Northwest Missouri State graduate also saw his share of success as a collegiate student-athlete. He was a pole vaulter/sprinter at Cloud County and Northwest. At Cloud, Phillips was a Region VI champion and a two-time national qualifier in the pole vault. At Northwest, he set school and Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association records while winning three conference championships in the pole vault and as a member of a school record and National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II national qualifying 4x100-meter relay team. He was a member of the 1982 MIAA conference championship team and qualified for two NCAA Division II national meets in the pole vault.  He is in the Northwest Missouri State Athletic Hall of Fame as member of the 1982 Conference Championship team.

Phillips received an Associates Degree from Cloud County in 1981, a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education from Northwest in 1984. He earned his Master’s Degree in Education from University of Berkley-Michigan in 2001. He is USA Track and Field certified Level 1 coaching and Level 2 Jumps and Sprints & Hurdles.

He and his wife Naomi have three children: Katie 18, Josh 17 and Justin 9.

Coach Phillips can be reached at (620) 442-1594 or by e-mail: phillips@cowley.edu