LORI DOWERS
- Apr 30
- 2 min read
Updated: May 18
Lawrence High School 1979 -- Sprinter
The newspapers often got her last name wrong, calling her ‘’Powers’’ instead of Dowers. But to those who competed against Lori Dowers, one of the most important and dominant sprinters in Mercer County history, there wasn’t so much a problem with spelling as being left far in the dust.
Dowers made her indelible mark locally when she won the 100-yard and 220-yard titles at the Mercer County Championships in back-to-back seasons, 1978 and 1979. But for one of head coach Jo Ann Couglin-Groeger’s most talented protegees, inclusion in this Hall of Fame was cemented by how she continued to elevate her game when the stakes got higher against New Jersey’s best competition.
In 1978, Dowers won the Central Group 220 title by a whopping 8/10ths of a second. The following season, she went one better, taking the 100 and 220 Central Group II titles to spearhead the Cardinals to their first sectional team title.
But that was just the warmup.
One of the greatest meets in Lawrence girls’ track history came at the Group II state championships when Dowers won both short sprint titles, both in dominant fashion. Thanks to her key role in the team’s fourth-place finish in the 440 relay, Lawrence clinched the team championship before the opposition took the track for the mile relay.
Dowers went on to compete collegiately for the Hornets of Delaware State University. In 1980 she gained college All-American honors in the 60 Meter Dash when she finished in 3rd place at the women’s indoor national track
and field championships.
Appropriately Dowers (still the county 100-yard dash record holder at 10.8 seconds) was inducted into Lawrence High’s Hall of Fame in 2008, the school’s inaugural class.
MAJOR TITLES
2x State Champion Group II - 100 & 220 (1979)
3x CJ Sectional Champion - 100 (1979), 200 (1978 & '79)
4x Mercer County Champion -- 100 & 200 (1978 & '79)
