By Dave Ongie, News Editor
Whether he’s on the track or a cross-country course, in the classroom or in the community, you can bet Chance Bowman is setting a fast pace.
Bowman, a senior at Daniel Boone High School, rose through the ranks to become the top runner on Boone’s cross-country team last fall before a foot injury sidelined him near the end of the season. In the classroom, he’s a straight-A student who recorded a perfect score of 36 on the ACT test.
Bowman has also excelled in HOSA competitions and has been involved in the Boy Scouts since the first grade. In fact, he’s currently working on his Eagle Scout project while applying to several colleges. After graduation this spring, Bowman hopes to continue his running career while studying for a career in medicine.
Bowman has been running competitively since seventh grade and credits the sport for helping him succeed in his other endeavors.
“The cross-country program we have here has had a pretty long history of success,” Bowman said. “I think a lot of that is due to not only the passing down of values from older runners to younger runners, but also just the focus on self-discipline and hard work in everything you do.”
The storied cross-country program at Daniel Boone is a perennial powerhouse. The Trailblazers have captured three state titles under the guidance of former coaches Carl Winkle and George Moody and current coach Len Jeffers.
Bowman credited former Boone runners Josh Routh, Mitch Bronstetter and Ben Varghese for helping him learn what it took to be successful both on the track and off when he was an underclassman.
“But that’s a drastically short list,” Bowman said. “There were lots of others.”
Bowman said the lessons he learned from older runners helped him set a high standard in every aspect of his life. He pointed out Varghese, who is currently running at ETSU, for helping him excel.
“I really started talking to him a lot my sophomore year, and I’m still in contact with him today,” Bowman said. “He’s given me a lot of help both inside of running and outside, just throughout life.
“That’s one of our main things as a team is having respect for not only ourselves but others in everything we do. We try to do it with good intentions and a high degree of completion.”
Bowman’s transcript and his ACT score certainly reflect a commitment to excellence. He also qualified for nationals in his HOSA academic competitions and is in the process of building a rest area and a shelter for a non-profit church camp in Kingsport in order to complete his Eagle Scout project.
Prior to the start of his senior year, Bowman visited Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth, and he is currently waiting for admissions decisions from a total of seven schools before assessing his next step.
The medical field is in his blood. With so many relatives working in medicine, you might say it’s the family business, and Bowman is eager to write his own chapter in the profession.
But he has also blazed quite a trail at Daniel Boone, doing his part to uphold the rich tradition built by those who came before him. As he looks ahead at the finish line of his high school career, he’s proud of where he’s been and excited to see where life will take him next.
“I’m proud to look back and see all the work that I’ve done, but I’m also excited to continue that in the future and see if I can take that to the next level,” Bowman said.
