JODY STEWART (STANFORD) EARNS COACHING PROMOTION

Stanford sprints/hurdles coach named associate head coach at Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford sprints and hurdles coach Jody Stewart, who coached Kori Carter to an NCAA championship and collegiate record, has been named associate head coach of the Cardinal track and field program.

Carter’s title in the women’s 400-meter hurdles and NCAA runner-up finish in the 100 hurdles helped lift her among the three finalists for The Bowerman, collegiate track and field’s highest honor.

Stewart’s work with Carter and the other Cardinal sprinters and hurdlers in his first year on The Farm inspired the promotion.

“We’re thrilled to be able to promote Jody to the associate head coach role,” said Chris Miltenberg, Stanford’s Franklin P. Johnson Director of Track and Field. “He’s the best young sprint coach in America and the progress he made with our sprint group in one short year really speaks to that.”

Carter was named the Pac-12 Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, sweeping both hurdles titles at the conference championships. She ran the world's fastest time of the year three times in the 400 hurdles, culminating in her collegiate record of 53.21 at the NCAA’s – a performance (given the mark and the stakes) that will go down as one of the greatest in the 120 years of the sport at Stanford.

In one year, Carter improved upon her personal and school records by an astonishing 3.49 seconds in the 400 hurdles and 0.23 in the 100 hurdles. She had never reached an NCAA final before, but in 2013, she ran the 400 hurdles more than 10 seconds faster than she had in her NCAA preliminary heat in 2012.

Under Stewart, the women’s 4x400 squad (3:32:56) reached the NCAA Championships, recorded the third-fastest time in school history, and set a Big Meet record. Also, Steven Solomon earned second-team All-America honors in the 400 (46.12), broke the school freshman record, and went on to reach the men’s 4x400 final at the IAAF World Championships while representing Australia.

Among other Stanford athletes to excel under Stewart, senior Kala Stepter broke into Stanford’s all-time Top 10 in the 400 hurdles (59.42) and earned her first All-America honor, and Katie Nelms, who was second at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation indoor championships in the 60 hurdles (8.27), recorded Stanford’s second-fastest time in that event. Also, Kristyn Williams moved to No. 7 all-time in the 400 (54.15) while recording the second-fastest time by a Stanford freshman.

In 2012, Stewart coached a pair of Georgetown sprinters to the U.S. Olympic trials, a first in school history. Stewart spent three seasons at Georgetown and was responsible for a resurgence in Hoya sprinting. After two seasons assisting with the sprints, hurdles and jumps, Stewart took over those event groups in August of 2011.

“We’re excited to be able to give him this promotion and we’re really excited about the future of our sprint group with him leading the way,” Miltenberg said.



For more information, contact:



David Kiefer

Associate athletic communications director

Stanford University

dkiefer@stanford.edu

(650) 736-7921