Whittier College

Bob Ramsey took over the Whittier Cross Country and Track programs Fall of 2022, after
serving as an assistant coach for the Poet track program since 2019. He is looking forward to
the Poets resuming competition in XC this Fall.
 
Bob’s college experience has been with sprint and jumps athletes, but he helped his high school
teams to high level of success in XC and distance track and is looking forward to building that
here at Whittier.
 
Ramsey’s sprinters and jumpers have re-written the Whittier and SCIAC record books. His
athletes hold the Whittier record in six of the seven women’s events he coaches and two of
seven for the men, along with 35% of the All-Time Performances in those events. The 2023
season finished with Poets advancing to Nationals in the 4x100, 100, 200 and Pole Vault, with
Jasmyne Crawford adding 100m All-American honors. The 2022 season culminated with the
4x100 relay team earning the Poets’ first-ever women’s All-American honors in a track event,
with Bob’s athletes also advancing to Nationals in the men’s long jump and the women’s 100m
and 200m.
 
Bob’s first college coaching experience was at conference rivals Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Colleges. Starting in 2016, his athletes earned thirteen individual conference championships
and held five CMS records and 29 places on the CMS All-Time Lists. Coaching sprints, jumps and
relays, his athletes also earned ten All-American honors and qualified for seventeen spots at
Nationals, topped by two-time 100m champion Tyra Abraham, who is the former NCAA Div. III
record holder in that event.
 
Ramsey began his coaching career at Glendora High School. In Cross Country (2007-2011), Bob
directed the training for the first GHS boys team to make CIF-SS Finals, which they won in 2009
with all five scorers running under 16:00 at Mt. SAC. That team also went on to finish 2nd at
California State meet, and in his final two years, the boys returned to CIF finals both times and
the State meet once, while the girls team advanced individuals to CIF-SS Finals and the State
Meet. With Track & Field from 2006-2012, his Glendora athletes earned many places in the CIF-
SS Finals, the SS Masters Meet and the California State Meet.
 
Growing up in nearby El Monte and graduating from Arroyo High School, Bob was the first in his
family to attend college. He went on to earn a Master’s Degree and complete the coursework
for a Ph.D. Before coaching, Ramsey worked in church leadership and taught literature at Azusa
Pacific University.
 
Bob lives with his wife Wendy in La Verne. Their son Chris and his wife Allie, both former Div. I
track athletes, live in Poulsbo, WA with their son Theodore. Their daughter Katie and her
husband Andy live in Irvine.