Derick “Ringo” Adamson has served as the head coach for women’s cross country and track & field at Rowan University since 2009. He has led his teams to numerous New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championships during his tenure, with three in cross country and a combined total of 11 for indoor and outdoor track & field.
The former Olympian and All-American has earned NJAC Coach of the Year honors in cross country and track & field a total of 14 times, while he has coached numerous All-America, All-Region and All-Conference selections.
His 2019 Rowan cross country team won the NJAC title, marking the school’s first since 2012, as Dianne Ferraro won the individual title and was named the conference’s Runner of Year. Adamson was named the league’s Coach of the Year for the fifth time. The 2019-20 indoor track season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Angel Rowe and Myiah Sturdivant were named All-Americans after they had qualified for the NCAA Championships, while the outdoor season was canceled all together.
He earned the 2019, 2018, 2016, 2015, 2013 and 2012 NJAC Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year award. Adamson was chosen the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Atlantic Region Head Coach of the Year in 2015 and 2012 for outdoor track and field.
In 2018-19, Rowan won the NJAC outdoor championship for the second year in a row and was the runner-up in cross country and the indoor championships. Adamson saw Madison Edwards earn NJAC Rookie of the Year honors in cross country while Aspen McMillan (60m hurdles) and Michelle Macauley (long jump) were indoor All-Americans and Darielle Cross (100m) and the 4x100 relay earned outdoor All-American status.
Adamson’s 2017-18 squad won the NJAC outdoor championship and qualified for five events in the NCAA Championships, with Cross (100m) and the 4x100 relay earning All-America honors. Aspen McMillan was the national runner-up establishing a new school record in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships and was named an All-American.
The Profs won their fifth straight NJAC indoor title, were second outdoors and took third in cross country in 2016-17. Amanda Brown earned the distinction of being named the Most Outstanding Athlete at both the indoor and outdoor championships, leading a group of 21 All-Conference performers indoors and 16 from the outdoor meet. In addition, 11 Profs earned All-Region recognition during the indoor season with 13 doing so outdoors.
The 2015-16 Profs swept the NJAC indoor and outdoor titles for the second year in a row, while being the runner-up in cross country. Rowan had five All-Americans between both seasons while Shailah Williams swept the Most Outstanding Athlete Award at both the indoor and outdoor championships, McMillan was the NJAC’s Rookie of the Year for both seasons, and Ebonique Jones was the Outstanding Track Athlete outdoors. Adamson was chosen the USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year for his efforts.
Rowan won both NJAC titles in 2014-15, while posting a second-place finish in cross country, led by the NJAC cross country champion and Runner of the Year Christin Bettis. Williams was tabbed as both the Outstanding Track Athlete and Most Outstanding Athlete at the NJAC indoor meet and Melirah Searcy garnered the award for the top track athlete at the outdoor championships and was named an All-American (400m hurdles), along with the 4x400 relay team.
The 2013-14 season saw the Profs win the league’s indoor crown and finish eighth in team scoring at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Williams was the NCAA Champion in the 200 meters, earned All-America honors in the 60 meters, and was the Outstanding Female Athlete at the NJAC meet. Jamie Thompson, the NJAC Indoor Outstanding Track Athlete, received All-America status indoors in two events (long jump, 60m hurdles) and outdoors in the long jump with her eighth-place finish, while the 4x400 relay was fourth in that meet to receive All-America honors. Meghan Borz was the NJAC Cross Country Runner of the Year in helping Rowan to a second-place finish.
The 2012-13 academic year brought a sweep of all three NJAC Championships as well as the team ECAC Outdoor title. Vanessa Wright was an All-American in the mile with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championship, while the Profs placed 11th in the team standings outdoors, with four individuals and two relays receiving All-America recognition. Rowan garnered a 27th-place team finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships while Danielle Czohla was the NJAC Runner of the Year and Deanna Wood was the conference’s Rookie of the Year.
Adamson was named the Profs’ head coach in 2009 and during his first three seasons, he saw four individuals and one relay earn All-America honors, while the 2012 squad captured the NJAC Outdoor Track Championship, for Rowan’s first title since 1992, and he earned his first USTFCCA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year award.
He served as an assistant at Rowan from 1991 to 1994, before undertaking a successful high school coaching career at Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, NJ, in 1995. The program won two South Jersey Group III State team championships in cross country and two in outdoor track, captured the 2006 Indoor National Championship in the shuttle hurdles and took first place at the Group III State Indoor Relay Championships four times, while his outdoor teams won five Group III State Sectional titles. He collected the New Jersey Indoor Track Coach of the Year and South Jersey Coach of the Year awards in 1999-00, was the 2004 Courier Post Outdoor Track Coach of the Year and was honored by the South Jersey Track Coaches Association (SJTCA) in 2002 and 2005.
Adamson was a standout for the Profs’ cross country and track & field teams from 1978 to 1982, receiving All-Conference honors four times. He competed in the steeplechase and distance events, including the 800 and 10,000 meters, and was the 1980 NCAA champion and an All-American in the steeplechase. He graduated from Rowan in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and received his master’s degree in education administration from Grand Canyon University in 2009.
He was a member of Jamaica’s team at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games, competing in the marathon. He had also qualified for the 1980 Olympics in the steeplechase but was not added to the team’s roster.
Adamson is a three-time winner of the Philadelphia Marathon and seven-time Jamaican cross country champion. In 1990, he was inducted into the Rowan-Glassboro State Athletic Hall of Fame, while he is also a member the NCAA Division III Track and Field Hall of Fame (2004) and the South Jersey Track and Field Hall of Fame (2017).
