OCEAN TWP., NJ – Rowan University track and field coaches Bill Fritz, Derick "Ringo" Adamson and Norm Tate and former coach Oscar Moore were given the Wisner Brothers Memorial Award for Distinguished Service to the Sport of Track and Field by the Shore Athletic Club on Sunday. The club's annual awards dinner was held at the English Manor in Ocean Twp., NJ.
Fritz is the head coach of the men's cross country and track & field teams. Under Fritz, the men's cross country team has won 19 NJAC Championships including 17 straight from 1974 to 1990. The men have qualified for the national championship 19 times. Since 1994, Fritz has been chosen the NCAA Division III Mideast Region Coach of the Year four times. The men's track and field team won four consecutive NJAC Championships (1994-97) under Fritz and finished tied for eighth at the 1997 NCAA Championships. Overall, the Prof men have claimed 23 NJAC titles. For track and field, Fritz has guided one Division I champion, 43 Division III outdoor champions and 10 Division III indoor champions. The men's 4x400 meter relay captured the national championship at the 2011 and 2012 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Adamson is the head coach of the women's cross country and track & field teams. He was selected the 2013, 2011, 2009 and 2008 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year. Adamson also received the 2013 Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year and the 2013 NJAC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year awards. Adamson was chosen the 2012 NJAC Women's Outdoor Track and Field and United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Atlantic Region Head Coach of the Year. In his tenure, the Profs have won two NJAC cross country championships, two indoor championships and two outdoor championships.
Tate is an assistant coach for both the men's and women's track & field teams and instructs the sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers. Tate was named the 2012 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Atlantic Region Men's Assistant Coach of the Year. He was selected to coach the male jumpers for the United States at the 2012 International Association of Athletics Federations World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. In 2010, he coached Team USA at the Five Nations Match in Glasgow, Scotland. Tate was a member of the 1968 United States Olympic Team in the triple jump. He captured the United States National Championship in the long jump in 1966, 1969 and 1970. Tate was the U.S. Champion in the triple jump in 1969, 1970 and 1971.
Moore started the men's track and field program in 1971 at Glassboro State College, now Rowan University. The Profs competed at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships for 20 straight years under Moore and they captured five straight national titles from 1980-84. The men's team also took second place in 1978 and 1979. His teams won the NJAC Championship 19 straight years. Moore produced over 130 All-Americans and 24 NCAA individual champions. In addition, he had one NCAA Division I champion in the javelin and a total of five athletes that qualified for the NCAA Division I Championships. He was named the NCAA Division III National Coach of the Year five times (1980-84).
Moore was also head coach of the women's track and field team for seven years. The women won their first NJAC title in 1992. He took over the women's program in the summer of 1986. With his guidance, several women competed at the NCAA Division III Championships, 17 earned All-America and four received All-East honors. Moore also served as the assistant coach for the men's and women's cross country teams from 1971-92. Moore was an assistant professor in the health and exercise department for 33 years and retired in 2003.
