Former UC Bearcats track and field, cross country coach Schnier dies

• Cincinnati Bearcats announce the passing of veteran track and field, cross country coach Bill Schnier.

The University of Cincinnati Athletics Department has announced the death of legendary track and field and cross country head coach Bill Schnier. Schnier died July 19 at age 80.

He coached the Bearcats for 33 years, from 1980 to 2013 and had 136 individual conference champions, 25 NCAA national championship qualifiers, 10 All-Americans and two Olympic medalists.

He was twice the Ohio Cross Country Coach of the Year and was named Conference USA Coach of the Decade in both cross country and track. His UC teams won 12 conference titles and set 47 school records.

“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.”

Bill Schnier coached big UC names

Schnier was inducted into the University of Cincinnati’s James P. Kelly Hall of Fame in 2012. Among his athletes were NBC Olympic track and field analyst Lewis Johnson and 2008 Olympic silver medalists David Payne (110 hurdles) and Mary Wineberg (4×400 relay). UC’s women’s track and field and cross country programs also began under Schnier.

“Bill was our mentor, colleague and friend,” Susan Seaton, UC’s current director of track and field and cross country said. “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.”

Schnier is a 1966 graduate of Capital 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 4×800 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.