MAAC Men’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year – 4 (2010, 2017, 2023, 2024)
MAAC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year – 3 (2020, 2023, 2024)
MAAC Men’s Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year – 4 (2011, 2013, 2023, 2024)
MAAC Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year – 3 (2013, 2023, 2024)
Director of Cross Country, Track & Field Bob Hamer begins his 17th season leading the Rider men's and women's cross country and track and field programs in 2024-25.
In 16 years, Coach Hamer has been named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year 14 times. Most recently, he’s won MAAC Indoor and Outdoor, Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year honors in both 2022-23 and 2023-24, accounting for eight of the awards.
Hamer has coached athletes to 171 All-East performances. Additionally, his athletes have broken countless Rider records and have won over 200 MAAC gold medals. 25 student-athletes have earned Outstanding Performer Awards at the MAAC Championships and have been named the Rider Athlete of the Year six times.
Hamer's teams have also enjoyed great success in the classroom. Both the men's and women's cross country teams have had the highest team grade point averages among the 21 Rider varsity sports over several semesters. Eight women and three men have been recognized on the national level as All-Academic team members by the USTFCCCA. The women's track and field and cross country teams have been recognized every year by USTFCCCA as an All-Academic team. The men's track and field and cross country teams have earned this honor 30 out of a possible 32 times.
The Broncs men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track & field teams both swept MAAC Championships for the second-straight year in 2023-24. Hamer was named MAAC Men’s and Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year. Mariah Stephens earned Indoor Women’s Field Most Outstanding Performer, winning three gold medals, while Devynn Lee won Indoor Men’s Field most Outstanding performer with two gold medals. The women’s team earned four gold medals at MAAC Indoor Championships and eight All-East Honors, including two each for Stephens and Natya Glasco. The men’s team earned four gold medals at MAAC Championships and 15 All-East Honors, including two each from Lee and Jayden DuBard and a gold-medal performance in the 1,000 meters by Derian Stianche. In the outdoor season, Teagan Schein-Becker won Women’s Track Most Outstanding Performer, while Michael Palmer took Men’s Field Most Outstanding Performer. Schein-Becker won the 1500 meters at Penn Relays, breaking the Rider Record with a time of 4:09.87, before shaving her time down to 4:08.85 at the NCAA Quarterfinals to clinch All-American honors and advance to the semifinals in Eugene, Oregon. Schein-Becker became just the second Bronc to advance to the semifinals, joining Emily Ritter (3000 steeplechase in 2015). The men’s team earned eight All-East honors at IC4A Championships, including two each from Artie Burgess, Derian Stianche and Travis Lahr. The women’s team also took home seven All-East honors at ECAC Championships. Mariah Stephens contributed to three of the All-East honors. A combined 60 Broncs earned track & field MAAC All-Academic Team honors, while 23 cross country runners took the honor. In cross country, the men finished third and women took fourth at MAAC Championships. Tamrat Snyder led the men’s team, earning All-East with a 20th place finish at IC4A Championships and All-MAAC with a 14th-place finish at MAAC Championships. Maddie Dischert earned All-MAAC with a 15th-place finish at MAAC Championships. She was also named MAAC Most Outstanding Rookie. Faith Evans joined Dischert on the MAAC All-Rookie Team as a top-five freshman finisher.
The Broncs returned to the top of the MAAC in 2022-23, winning both indoor and outdoor track & field championships, with Hamer picking up four MAAC Coach of the Year honors. The men’s indoor championship was the team’s first since 2017, while the women won the indoor title for the first time since 2020. The men won four indoor gold medals at MAAC Championships and earned seven All-East honors. The women won five indoor gold medals at MAAC Championships and earned seven All-East honors, including Teagan Schein-Becker’s ECAC Championship in the 800-meters that set a new Rider record. Schein-Becker also broke the Rider record in the mile during the season and was joined by Raihana Yameogo, Hailey Palmer, and Lydia Wallace to break the program’s Distance Medley Relay record. Tamrat Snyder broke the Rider record in the 800-meters for the men. The outdoor titles were the Broncs’ men and women’s first since 2013. Artie Burgess set a MAAC Championship record in the 200-meters on his way to being named the MAAC Track Most Outstanding Performer. Teagan Schein-Becker won both the 800 and 1,500 meters on her way to earning MAAC Most Outstanding Track Performer at MAAC Championships. Schein-Becker, Zach Manorowitz, and Raisa Thunig qualified for NCAA East Preliminary Championships, with Schein-Becker advancing to the quarterfinals in the 1500 meters. The men’s team had six All-East performances at IC4A Championships and seven gold medals at MAAC Championships. The women’s team had nine All-East performances at ECAC Championships and eight gold-medal-winning performances at MAAC Championships. Braeden Haines, Freddie Haynesworth IV, Jerome Boyer, and Artie Burgess broke the nearly 20-year-old Rider record in the 4x100 Relay at Princeton’s Larry Ellis Invitational. The women’s team broke multiple program records led by Schein-Becker in both the 800 and the 1,500-meters. Sarah Eskew set Rider’s program mark in the 3,000-meters. Eskew, Oliva de la Torre Coca, Jordan O’Neill, and Schein-Becker set Rider’s 4x1,500-meters record, Lydia Wallace, Schein-Becker, de la Torre Coca, and Raihana Yameogo set a new 4x800-meter record, and O’Neill, Schein-Becker, de la Torre Coca, and Hailey Palmer combined to post a new program mark in the Distance Medley Relay. 42 Broncs earned MAAC All-Academic Team honors in both indoor and outdoor, while 25 cross country runners were honored. Schein-Becker earned All-MAAC Cross Country honors with a 10th-place finish at the MAAC Championships. Tamrat Snyder finished 13th at the MAAC Championships to earn All-MAAC honors.
The Broncs won six major awards in 2021-22, with Mariah Stephens winning Most Outstanding Field Performer in both the indoor and outdoor seasons to go along with indoor Field Rookie of the Meet. Artie Burgess took Most Outstanding Track Rookie in the indoor season and Teagan Schein-Becker earned Most Outstanding Track Performer in the outdoor season. Jayden DuBard also took outdoor Field Rookie of the Meet. The men finished second at both the indoor and outdoor championships, while the women finished third in indoor and second in outdoor. The men won four gold medals at the MAAC Championships and earned five All-East honors, including Zach Manorowitz’s IC4A Championship in the long jump. The women won three gold medals at MAAC Championships and earned four All-East honors, including Teagan Schein-Becker’s ECAC Championship in the mile. Schein-Becker, Manorowitz and Tamrat Snyder qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships, with Schein-Becker advancing to the quarterfinals in the 1500 meters. The men had five All-East performances at IC4A Championships and five gold medals at MAAC Championships. The women had five All-East performances at ECAC Championships and eight gold-medal-winning performances at MAAC Championships. Snyder, Jerome Boyer, Artie Burgess and James Green broke the 36-year-old Rider record in the Sprint Medley Relay at Penn Relays. In cross country, the men and women both finished fifth at MAAC Championships. Schein-Becker earned All-MAAC and All-East with eighth-place finishes at both the MAAC and ECAC Championships. Snyder, Iain Taylor and Noah Taylor all earned MAAC All-Rookie Team honors as Top 5 rookie finishers at the MAAC Championships. 26 cross country student-athletes were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team, while 53 Broncs earned the honor in the indoor season to go along with 47 during the outdoor season.
The Broncs returned to action in 2020-21 with a Spring MAAC Cross Country Championship following the Covid 19 pandemic. The men finished third and the women came in sixth place. Richie Castaneda finished 15th to earn All-MAAC honors. 21 cross country student-athletes were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team. While the indoor championships were canceled, Rider finished second on the men’s side and third on the women’s side at the MAAC Outdoor Championships. The men won three gold medals at the meet. Darnell St. Clair won the high jump and was also second in the triple jump on his way to being named the MAAC Field Most Outstanding Performer. Zach Manorowitz finished second in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump en route to being named the MAAC Field Rookie of the Meet. The men’s team would go on to place fourth at the IC4A Championships. Individually, Manorowitz would go on to qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships in the long jump, where he finished 33rd. Three Rider women won gold medals at the MAAC Championships. Lindsay Bauer won the long jump and took third in the triple jump and was selected as the MAAC Field Most Outstanding Performer. Kristin Siegle qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships in the 1,500-meters, where she placed 31st and set a new program record in the event. 10 from the men’s team and five from the women’s team earned All-East honors and 48 Broncs overall were named to the MAAC All-Academic Teams.
The 2019-20 season was highlighted by the women’s indoor track & field team winning MAAC Championships for the first time in 13 years. Hamer was named MAAC Coach of the Year. The women took home five gold medals, while the 4x800 team of Kristin Siegle, Nicole Berry, Katie Ward and Oliva de la Torre Coca earned All-East and set a new program record. All told, three women earned All-East. The men finished second at indoor championships, with Sam Aviles being named MAAC Track Most Outstanding Rookie after winning gold in the 60m hurdles and silver in the 60m dash. The 4x800 relay team of Kevin Heredia, Donny Vineyard, Mike Mazzei and Tom Long also won gold. Michael Mazzei took All-East honors individually in the 1000, while helping the 4x800 team (Kevin Heredia, Scott Ruskan, Tom Long) to All-East in a new school-record time. Siegle earned All-MAAC honors by finishing 12th at the MAAC Cross Country Championships, while Brian Spolarich, Siegle and Peri Pavicic all garnered All-East accolades. A combined 44 Broncs were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team in the indoor season, while 18 in men’s and women’s cross country were recognized.
During the 2018-19 campaign, Hamer saw both the men's and women's teams finish second at both the MAAC Indoor Championships and MAAC Outdoor Championships. At the Indoor Championships, freshman Ayo Oyewole was named the MAAC Men's Field Rookie of the Meet. At the Outdoor Championships, Oyewole was once against recognized as the MAAC Men's Field Rookie of the Meet and on the women's side, Sophia Castronovo was honored as the MAAC Women's Track Rookie of the Meet. In the spring, the team saw three student-athletes qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships.
In 2017-18, the women came in third at the Indoor Championships and second at the Outdoor Championships. At the MAAC Indoor Championships, Asia Young was tabbed as the Women's Field Performer of the Meet and at the Outdoor Championships, Joshonda Johnson was recognized as the MAAC Female Co-Rookie Track Performer of the Meet.
It was also a record-breaking spring as junior Sara Gardner shattered her own program record in the 100m hurdles and became the first female hurdler in program history to qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Championships.
Hamer was named the MAAC Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year in February of 2017 after the men's team captured their first-ever MAAC Indoor Championship. Later that season, he was also tabbed as the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Indoor Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year. It marked the first time in his coaching career that he had earned regional accolades.
The Rider men had a major award winner for the first time since 2011 at the 2017 MAAC Indoor Championships. Junior Tyree Adams was named the Men's Field Most Outstanding Performer and during at the conference outdoor championships freshman Fidele Jules was named the MAAC Women's Field Rookie of the Meet. The men;s team won their first-ever MAAC Indoor Championship in 2017 as well.
His men's and women's teams won the MAAC Outdoor Track and Field Championship on the same day for the first time in Rider history in 2013. He was also named the 2013 MAAC Outdoor Coach of the Year for both the men and women.
The 2015 season was another record breaking year for Rider Track and Field. Senior Emily Ritter became the first ever female NCAA qualifier when she competed at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon where she became the first Bronc track and field All-American when she earned Second Team All American honors by finishing ninth in the 3000 meter steeplechase. The men and women also combined for fourteen All- East recognitions during the cross country and track and field seasons.
Hamer was named the MAAC Indoor Coach of the Year for the 2009-10 season, his second as the head coach after serving five seasons as an assistant coach, and was named the MAAC Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2011.
In 2014, three of his cross country runners earned All-MAAC honors. The women's cross country team also posted the highest NCAA Regional finish ever by placing 15th. Two runners also earned All East honors at the ECAC/IC4A Championships.
In 2013, four of his cross country runners earned All-MAAC honors.
Hamer led Rider to the 2011 MAAC Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championship to go along with the eleven MAAC runner-up finishes he has compiled.
In his first season as head coach Hamer led the Rider women's cross country team to a MAAC runner-up finish, their highest finish ever. The men's cross country team has finished third at the MAAC Championships for five consecutive years, the highest finish ever for the men's team.
As an assistant coach, Hamer's primary duties were with the cross country and distance runners, as he is a USA Track & Field Level II certified coach for endurance events. In 2007 his men's cross country team placed a best-ever (at that time) third in the MAAC and 14th at the NCAA Regional while the women's cross country team placed a best-ever 22nd at the NCAA Regional.
In his first year at Rider, the women distance runners contributed valuable points in winning the Outdoor MAAC Track & Field Championship. In 2006, his men's cross country team placed 18th of 28 teams at the NCAA Regional with two runners earning All-MAAC honors. His women's cross country team had an All-MAAC performer and was named All-Academic by the USTFCCCA.
Hamer is also a member of the USTFCCCA Division I Cross Country Executive Committee since 2009 and he served as president of the ICAAAA for the 2012-2013 cross country and track and field seasons.
Hamer came to Rider from Saint Joseph's University, where he was an assistant coach. Before coaching at Saint Joseph's, Hamer was the head track & field coach at the Devon Preparatory School.
A 1995 graduate of Penn State, Hamer won the Big Ten Conference Championship in the 5000 meters. He was also a two time All-American in the 1500 meters and distance medley relay. He twice helped the Nittany Lions finish among the top 15 teams in the nation in cross country.
Hamer received his master's degree in Sports Administration in 2000 from West Chester University.
Hamer and his wife Allison and daughters Kylie and Brynn reside in Ringoes, New Jersey.
