At the 1976 Summer Olympics, he was eliminated by finishing seventh in the quarterfinals while running more than two seconds slower than his personal best of 45.6, set earlier that year.

[2] Sowerby is also a three-time champion in the now defunct 600 yard dash at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

[3] Sowerby is a 1973 graduate of Murray State University, where he was elected to the Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986.

He then relocated to his alma mater, Murray State University, where he coached the track teams to several victories until 1993.

After moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was an assistant coach for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas,[5] Sowerby has continued to run in Masters athletics wearing the United States uniform, setting the World Masters Athletics World Record in the M45 and M50 age divisions in 1994 and 1999 respectively.