Teaghan Cowles

Classroom

Cowles graduated with a 3.30 GPA for her undergraduate career and currently carries a 3.83 GPA in her graduate program. She is currently pursuing a master’s in biology from Stanford after she completed her undergraduate degree in bioengineering in 2020. Cowles has been named to the Pac-12 All-Academic team twice in her career.

Cowles has spent her college career conducting bioengineering and biology research. During her sophomore year in 2017-18, she conducted and presented research with Stanford’s Dirzo Lab – which investigates the evolutionary ecology of species interaction. In the summer of 2019, Cowles was a synthetic-biology intern at NASA’s Ames Research Center through the Rothschild Lab, where her team won Gold and an iGEMer Award at the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition in Boston.

She is currently conducting research with the Ma Laboratory and the cardiovascular surgery department in the Stanford School of Medicine, beginning that work in the summer of 2020. Cowles plans to attend medical school after exhausting her eligibility, with the long-term goal of becoming an emergency room doctor.

Character

Cowles is the epitome of a team first player. She came into the Stanford program as a highly recruited catcher, but in her freshman season she was asked to transition to third base, a position she had never played before. The Pac-12 conference is a humbling place to learn a completely new position and the transition was not easy. Although Cowles may have had a chance at being an All-American catcher, she showed up every day and worked as hard as she could without complaint to become an average third baseman because that was what the team needed from her. After her sophomore season, Cowles was again asked to switch positions, and again, without complaint, she got to work and turned herself into an excellent outfielder.

She also led Stanford to the NCAA tournament as a junior in 2019—the program’s first postseason appearance in six seasons. Stanford improved its winning percentage each season of Coweles’ career.

Community

Cowles participated in the Rubenstein-Bing Student-Athlete Civic Engagement (ACE) Program in 2017 – a partner program between Stanford and Duke which gives student-athletes at both universities the opportunity to participate in international service projects. After her freshman year, she spent three weeks in South Africa with ACE and hosted a youth sports camp, helped build a greenhouse, and taught computer classes to local women. 

Cowles has remained involved with the ACE Program as an ambassador for the last four years. In that role, she helps promote the program and provide support to those entering the program through trainings and workshops – specifically in the ethics of service.

Competition

A four-year starter, Cowles is Stanford’s all-time leader in triples with 21 – a category she ranks second nationally in among active players. She has started all 185 games since she arrived at Stanford.

As a junior in 2019, Cowles was named to the All-Pac-12 second team, hitting .343 in conference play. She was also named to the NFCA All-Pacific Region third teams as a both a sophomore (2018) and a junior (2019). 

She owns a .345 career batting average – seventh all-time in Stanford history – with 58 career extra-base hits. Cowles led the Pac-12 in stolen bases in 2020 and ranks fifth in program history with 46 career stolen bases.