Inside The Herd: Ethan Bowens, Men's Track & Field

Editor's Note: Inside The Herd is an original series where we highlight our student-athletes and tell their Marshall stories. Every student-athlete at Marshall has a story about their journey and we hope that their stories inspire others to live their Marshall moments as well! Go Herd!

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – When Ethan Bowens started his Marshall journey in 2021, there was no indication he would ever be a Division I athlete.

At the time Bowens enrolled as a student, Marshall had not even reinstated its Men's Track program.

Little did Bowens know then the next four years would take him on a journey in which he not only realized his childhood goals of being a Division I student-athlete, but that those experiences would also shape his future and help him champion his studies with a global and even interstellar impact project that has earned him numerous accolades at the conference and university levels, as well as global recognition.

"I don't think I could've dreamed a better life than the one I live right now and I thank my Lord and savior for that because without him, I wouldn't be here," Bowens said. "It's been fantastic. I never would've believed that I'd received a NASA grant and flown to Puerto Rico to present my findings and then be named the Sun Belt post-graduate award winner."

Growing up in nearby Wayne, W.Va., Bowens' youth was spent going to Marshall games and cheering on the Herd with his father, who was a Marshall graduate. Like many from the Tri-State area, his dreams were to one day be a Division I athlete.

However, after graduating from Wayne High School in the Class of 2021, Bowens thought he'd put that dream aside to pursue a degree at Marshall University in Exercise Science.

"My dream coming out of high school was to be a part of Division I athletics, as most kids who play high school sports would," Bowens said. "But I hung up my football cleats and track spikes to pursue a career in academics, and that's what I did my freshman year. I dedicated myself to my studies."

Then, something incredible happened as his sophomore year was getting underway. You could say the stars aligned perfectly.

"Probably into my sophomore year in October, I got word that the Men's Track and Field team was going to be coming back at Marshall University after a 20-year hiatus," Bowens continued. "The first thing I did was E-mail Coach (Caleb) Bowen and my high school coach to try to get some face-time and see if that's something I could try out for. I ended up making the team and now we've run three seasons with two incredible coaching staffs, and I couldn't be more happy."

Based on Bowens' high school dreams, he'd made it. However, with all great athletes, his pursuit of excellence did not stop there.

Instead, he took his career as a student-athlete to the next level, using what he learned through his own athletic journey and the science behind his own training to drive his academic pursuit of excellence in Exercise Science.

Bowens embarked on a research project that included a unique study on muscle atrophy and the impacts of zero gravity on muscles for astronauts, based on variables of age and gender.

The project's focus was helping astronauts better prepare for long, sustained missions with resistance training which would counter-balance the impact of hypertrophy.

NASA took notice of his efforts and Bowens was offered a research fellowship through NASA's West Virginia Space Grant Consortium, which led him on a journey that produced more than 460 hours of research over the next year and landed him in Puerto Rico to present his findings.

That research was completely intertwined with his athletic career as Bowens maintained a balance of academics and athletics.

"A lot (of the research) was at a computer looking at muscle fibers – their length and size – and recording that data," Bowens said. "It's hard to balance with track and field, so I would look at a lot of the muscles on the bus while traveling during the down time."

Bowens credited Marshall Track & Field coach Keith Roberts for sharing in his vision of success and for his coaches and teammates for their sacrifice as he pursued the project.

"Coach Roberts and his staff have been fantastic to me and all the athletes, and that's why I speak so highly of them and this program," Bowens said. "I missed the first meet of the season to fly to Puerto Rico (for the presentation) and it was never a question of commitment or character to the team. They were excited for me. I couldn't be more thankful for the support I've received from them and from my teammates as well."

It is a journey that earned him the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Male Post-Graduate Student-Athlete of the Year Award, which he was honored for this month, adding to a previous distinction of "Best Undergraduate Student" during Marshall's 36^th Annual Health Sciences Research Day in Nov. 2024.

"I was very blessed and very fortunate to be able to receive an award that's Sun Belt wide, especially with all the talent – both academically and athletically in this conference," Bowens said. "To be named as one of the top recipients in this conference was just fantastic. It's a big blessing and I'm thankful for the coaches, staff, and mentors that I've had to interact with here at Marshall and the professors that taught me. The whole experience we have is excellent here!"

Just as in the onset of his Marshall journey when he continued to build on his dreams, Bowens knows the work isn't finished for him in athletics or academia.

As he finishes his Marshall track career in the near future, Bowens is applying for medical school with the hopes of being accepted into the Fall 2026 class.

His future plans include becoming a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialist for one of the U.S. branches with a 10-year plan of practicing medicine and getting people back to health and their daily activities.

One thing that Bowens said has been special in his athletic journey is how that, no matter where they travel, folks always yell "Go Herd" and say when they graduated from Marshall when they see the Marshall 'M' being worn by he and his teammates.

Bowens said there's just something special about that Marshall 'M' – a quality he felt as a young kid while going to games, but even more now that he's a Son of Marshall.

"I bleed Green!" Bowens said. "Marshall has always been a place – my Dad graduated from here – so it's a place that I always wanted to go, but now, I look at it in a different light having sacrificed and committed so many hours of my time to this university.

"The people here are, bar none, some of the greatest in the world, and the reach of that Marshall 'M' is pretty wide. I love this university and the people here and everything about this community."

No matter where life may take Bowens – medical school, the military, NASA and beyond – he made sure one thing was clear: the Marshall 'M' and the pride that comes along with it will be with him every step of his journey.

INSIDE THE HERD

Name: Ethan Bowens
Sport: Track & Field
Year: Junior
Hometown: Wayne, W.Va.
Major: Exercise Science
Awards
-            2025 Sun Belt Male Postgraduate Scholar Athlete Of The Year
-            2024 Best Undergraduate Student – Marshall University Health Sciences
-            2024 Chad Pennington Leadership Award - MARCOs
-            2024 Teammate of the Year - MARCOs
-            Grant from NASA's West Virginia Space Grant Consortium
Goals: Medical School in Fall 2026 and become a PMR for the military

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Inside The Herd: Ethan Bowens, Men's Track & Field

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Ethan Bowens

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