TicketsCINCINNATI – The University of Cincinnati Athletics Department mourns the passing of legendary track and field and cross country head coach Bill Schnier, who died on Saturday. He was 80 years old.
He coached the Bearcats for 33 years, from 1980 to 2013, and leaves behind a remarkable legacy as one of the most accomplished coaches of any sport in UC history.
Schnier coached 136 individual conference champions, 25 NCAA national championship meet qualifiers, 10 All-Americans and two Olympic medalists. He collected conference coach of the year honors 15 times and was twice selected as Ohio Cross Country Coach of the Year. He was named the Conference USA Coach of the Decade in both cross country and track and field. His teams won 12 conference titles and 47 school records were set during his time at UC.
“Coach Schnier was a foundational figure in the history of Cincinnati Athletics,” Director of Athletics John Cunningham said. “Over his 33 years leading our track and field and cross country programs, he shaped the lives of hundreds of student-athletes and built a championship culture. His impact went well beyond the track—he helped establish our women’s program, mentored Olympians and All-Americans and represented UC with class every step of the way. We are deeply saddened by his passing and forever grateful for his remarkable legacy. Our thoughts are with his wife, Kathy, and the Schnier family.”
He was inducted into the University of Cincinnati’s James P. Kelly Hall of Fame in 2012.
Schnier coached all-time great Bearcats such as NBC Olympic track and field analyst Lewis Johnson and 2008 Olympic silver medalists David Payne (110 hurdles) and Mary Wineberg (4x400 relay). He coached distance star Eric Finan, who was named the BIG EAST Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2012. It was also under Schnier’s watch that the UC women’s track and field and cross country programs were formed.
“Bill was our mentor, colleague and friend,” said Susan Seaton, UC’s current director of track and field and cross country. “An inspiration to all, a skilled educator and an immensely beloved coach, he spent his 33 years at UC building teams that were competitive, loyal and integrated into the fabric of the institution. He spent his life educating and fostering the next generations by passing along his vast knowledge about our sport, and more significantly about life and how to live it in a productive way. He made room for all, found a way to relate well to people of all different walks of life, and he fiercely believed in the good in everyone he encountered. His legacy will not just live on in championships and records but most importantly in the numerous lives he touched and the family he built here at UC. Our thoughts are with his wife, Kathy, and his children who shared Bill with all of us.”
Schnier is a 1966 graduate of Capital [Ohio] University where he played baseball for two years before switching to track and field. He set the Capital record for the outdoor 800 meters (1:54.14) and was a member of the record-setting outdoor 4x800 relay team (7:51.04). He earned master's degrees from Wright State University and Indiana University in 1977 and in 1987 earned a doctorate in human performance from Indiana.
He is survived by his wife, Kathy, three children and their spouses, Ben and Lorraine Effler, Bryan and Ellen Daniel and Keller and Jessica Schnier, and eight grandchildren, Erich, Baron, Ruden, Emerson, Eloise, Harrison, Nora and Rory.
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