Rowbury attended Duke University and studied English and Theater and competed on the cross country and track and field teams for the school.

[9] In April 2007, Rowbury was diagnosed with a femoral neck stress fracture (hip joint), which abruptly put an end to her collegiate career at Duke University.

In her sophomore year she earned indoor All-American status, finishing in 8th place at the NCAA championships in the mile.

She redshirted her indoor and outdoor seasons of her senior year, but set Duke school records in the 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and steeplechase, the latter at 9.59.4.

In November 2007, Rowbury competed at the Seagate Elite 5K Road Race in San Jose, California to assess her current fitness level coming back from her injury.

In January 2008, Rowbury enjoyed her first extended stint at altitude in central Mexico where she trained for six weeks with her coach and teammates.

In April 2008, Rowbury opened up her outdoor track campaign at the Duke Invitational, winning the 800 m by 12 seconds with a two-second personal best time of 2:02.76.

Her next race was in early May at the Payton Jordon Invitational at Stanford University where she hoped to achieve the Olympic A standard at 1500 m (4:07.00).

On July 6, 2008 at the USATF Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, Rowbury placed first in the 1500 m final with a time of 4:05.48, followed by Erin Donohue and Christin Wurth-Thomas.

[18] A month later she won her first Fifth Avenue Mile, narrowly edging out Lisa Dobriskey, Sara Hall and Wurth-Thomas.

Currently in fourth position following the disqualifications of Aslı Çakır Alptekin and Gamze Bulut, she stands to be upgraded to the bronze medal after Tatyana Tomashova was disqualified for doping in September 2024.

Six of the top nine finishers in the event (not including Rowbury) have been either disqualified or linked to performance-enhancing drug use, with ESPN labeling it "one of the dirtiest [races] in Olympic history".

[28] Rowbury began her season at the University of Washington Indoor Preview, finishing fourth in the 800 meters with a time of 2:07.72 on January 18, 2014.

[31] After many years of trying Rowbury broke the four-minute barrier for the first time in the 1500m at the prestigious Paris Diamond League meeting on July 5.

On September 11, at the Diamond League finale in Brussels, Rowbury placed 3rd in the mile in 4:22.10, just ahead of Jennifer Simpson who finished in 4:22.18.

She won the bronze medal at the IAAF World Indoor Championships behind Genzebe Dibaba and Meseret Defar in the same event.

[42] On September 1 in the Diamond League 1500m final in Zurich, Rowbury outleaned Laura Muir, running a season's best time of 3:57.78.