Bio

In the Fall of 2023, it was a year to remember for the Tiger cross country programs. The Lady Tigers were able to battle through untimely sickness and win the 2023 NJCAA National XC Championship, led by Dheniffer Vaz. Marking the third national championship the program has won in the last four years. The Lady Tigers also won their seventh straight KJCCC East Conference Cross Country Championship and their fourth straight Region VI Cross Country Championship. The men were able to win their third conference championship in the last four years, as well as their fourth straight Region VI Championship. The Ladies were also named the 2023 USTFCCCA Cross Country Scholar Team of the Year as well. 

•The 2022-23 season came to a close, with the Lady Tigers stretching their Cross Country Conference win streak to six. Both men and women were Region VI Cross Country Champions, and both programs finished in the top six at the national cross country meet. During this time, Coach Rieth was named the 2022 USTFCCCA Central Region Women’s Coach of the Year. Coach Rieth oversaw 96 new Top-15 marks in program history, two new school records indoors, and 52 new marks outdoors. Through a complete team effort, both men’s and women’s Tigers teams were able to repeat as Outdoor KJCCC Eastern Conference Champions. Then finally, the Tigers capped off their year with the men’s team finishing ninth and the women’s team finishing 13th at the national outdoor meet in Hobbs, NM.

•In the Fall of 2021, Coach Rieth took over the track and field leadership role to be the head coach of both cross country and track and field at Cowley. Following one of the most respected coaches in the JUCO world of track and field and recent Track and Field Hall of Fame inductee Coach Mark Phillips. The Tiger men finished what they had set out to do the year before and won the program's second national title, the first since 2010. Adrian Diaz-Lopez and Amos Pkiach went 1-2 at the national meet. Along the way, they also captured the region and conference championships as well. Even while graduating 80% of the championship team from last year, the Lady Tigers also continued their success. Winning the program’s fifth straight conference championship and fourth straight region championship while finishing fourth at the national meet. In the spring of 2022, Adrian went on to break the indoor mile, 3k, and outdoor 5k school records. He was also able to win his second consecutive 3k national championship.

•During the Fall of 2020, while battling the uncertainty of COVID-19, the Cowley Tigers had a season to remember. Both the women and men were region and conference champions for the first time in 10 years. The women became the JUCO D-2 National Champions, while the men finished third. Lubna Suied led the way for the women by winning the program's first individual national championship in cross country. Newcomers Adrian Diaz-Lopez and Amos Pkiach finished second and third, which spearheaded a national resurgence for the Tiger men.

•In Fall 2019, Rieth began his first full season at Cowley. The Lady Tigers repeated as Region VI champions and won their third straight conference championship. Rieth was the 2019 Women’s Region VI Cross Country Coach of the Year and named the 2019 USTFCCCA Women’s Cross-Country Region Coach of the Year. During this time, Sasha Elizondo was a 10 x All-American, 7 x Region Champion, & 14 x All-Region stand-out performer.

• Before Cowley, Rieth spent four years as the head coach of Colby Community College and watched a resurgence on the NJCAA national scene for both programs. While at Colby, both teams combined success and gained attention from the JUCO world, with the Trojans starting the 2017-2018 season on a historic note. The Lady Trojans repeated as conference champions while upsetting the No. 2 nationally ranked team to win their first Region VI championship since 1999 and finished sixth in the country. Also, while at Colby, Rieth recruited and coached Nehemia Too and Wesley Kiptoo-Banguria, who went on to have two of the most successful JUCO careers in recent memory, having won seven individual national championships collectively, while shattering the Colby school record book and a couple of regional and national records. Both went on to run at Iowa State University. Wesley is currently running professionally for the Hoka NAZ Elite team. While at Iowa State, he set an NJCAA national indoor record in the 5k in 13:14. Nehemia ran an Iowa State school record in the mile in 3:57. He also coached and recruited Winnie Kibet and Aileen Gurrolla, who went on to become two of the best women distance runners in program history, with six school records, 14 All-Americans and 25 All-Region honors between the two of them.

Rieth brings a deep passion for the sport and helping young athletes, as well as a wealth of knowledge at the mid to long-distance events and cross country. Having gone the JUCO route himself, he truly appreciates the opportunities the junior college world brings to incoming athletes. Before coaching in JUCO, Rieth spent four years as an assistant at his alma mater, Fort Hays State (D-2).

Rieth graduated from Garden City Community College (KS) in 2009 with an associate’s degree. Afterward, he attended Fort Hays State University, earning two bachelor's degrees in Health and Human Performance (2013) and Education (2014).
Coach Rieth can be contacted at (620) 307-6187 or at cameron.rieth@cowley.edu.

By the numbers:

TEAM

3: National Championships

10: Region VI Championships

17: Conference Championships

3: National Podium Finishes

2: Region VI Runner up Finishes

13: Region VI Podium Finishes

17: Top 10 National Finishes

INDIVIDUAL

4: National Athletes of the Year

11: Individual National Champions

12: Individual National Runner Ups

104: All-Americans

3: Region VI Top Point Scorer

297: All-Region VI Performers (39 Champions)

452: All-Conference Performers (78 Champions)

36: School Records Broken

COACHING

3: National XC Coach of the Year

9: USTFCCCA JUCO Region AOY

8: USTFCCCA JUCO XC/TF Region COY

4: Region VI XC Coach of the Year

2: USTFCCCA Region Assistant Track COY

4: NJCAA National Academic Team of the Year