Jody Stewart (Stanford)

Jody Stewart
Position: Associate Head Coach - Sprints/Hurdles
Experience: 1 Year






Stanford sprints and hurdles coach Jody Stewart, who coached Kori Carter to an NCAA championship and collegiate record, is an 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.

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.

Stewart coached four athletes to Olympic trials qualifying marks. Both Amanda Kimbers and London Finley participated in the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials. Kimbers competed in the 100 meters after achieving the automatic standard by running a school-record 11.25. Finley competed in the Olympic trials after achieving the provisional mark of 56.67 in the 400 hurdles, which was also a school record.

For Stewart, the 2012 outdoor season included other outstanding performances. Finley achieved All-America honors after being a finalist in the NCAA 400 hurdles and being a part of the NCAA qualifying 4x400 relay team. Finley also won the Big East championship and broke the conference record in the 400 hurdles.

The women's 4x400 consisting of Tenille Stoudenmire, Finley, Chelsea Cox, and Kimbers ran the fastest outdoor relay in 10 years at Georgetown. The quartet won the Big East title and went on to achieve second-team All-America honors. Kimbers set a school record of 23.28 in the 200 during her runner-up finish at the Big East meet. In addition, the sprints group had five athletes compete in the NCAA preliminary round and eight who received All-Big East outdoor honors.

During the 2012 indoor season, the women's program won the Big East title and the coaching staff earned indoor staff of the year honors. The women's 4x400 captured their second consecutive conference indoor title. Kimbers was the runner-up in the 200 and third in the 60, while breaking a school record in the latter event. Kimbers also was a member of the All-America distance medley relay that placed fourth at the NCAA Championships. Overall, eight athletes received All-Big East indoor honors.

Prior to his arrival at Georgetown, Stewart spent two seasons as the sprints, hurdles, and jumps coach at Bowling Green State.Stewart recruited one of the top sprint classes in the Mid-American Conference, coached four top-10 all-time school performances and developed multiple MAC scorers. Stewart began his coaching career at his alma mater of Ashland (Ohio) University, where he worked with the sprints, hurdles and jump groups. During that time, he coached an NCAA Division II hurdle All-American, three conference champions, and multiple all-conference athletes and relay teams.

Stewart, a native of Columbus, Ohio, was a four-time NCAA Division II All-America at Ashland. He was a four-time Academic All-American, four-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion and the 2003 conference Most Valuable Performer.

Stewart graduated with a bachelor's in health education in 2006 and earned his master's in sports management from Cleveland State in 2008. He also holds Level II Certifications in the sprints, hurdles, relays, jumps, and combined events from USA Track & Field. Jody and his wife Amber reside in San Jose.



Stanford Track and Field