JODY STEWART
Jody Stewart begins his third year as Texas State's Director of Track and Field/Cross Country. In his first two seasons in charge of the Bobcats, he has won three Sun Belt Conference Championships, has been named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year on all three occassions and has led the women's program to its highest point total during an indoor championship. Under Stewart, Texas State has produced nine All-American, 32 Sun Belt Conference champions, 43 NCAA First Round qualifiers, 87 all-conference honorees and 15 school records. In addition, the women's team swept the 2017 post season awards from the Sun Belt Conference during the outdoor season. The Bobcats Track and Field program has also excelled academically under Stewart, collecting 13 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team honors in two seasons.
In 2017, Stewart captured the Sun Belt Conference Indoor and Outdoor Women's Coach of the Year awards after the women's team won both conference championships. The team did so in dominating fashion each time with the indoor squad tallying a school record 166 points. Between the indoor and outdoor campaigns, the Bobcats produced three All-Americans, 20 Sun Belt Conference champions, 20 NCAA First Round qualifiers and 45 all-conference honorees.
The 2016 Sun Belt Conference Indoor Coach of the Year led the men’s team to its first SBC Indoor Championship while also producing six All-Americans, 12 Sun Belt Conference championships, 23 NCAA First Round qualifiers and 42 all-conference honorees in his first year at the helm.
Capturing indoor conference titles were Chelsie Decoud (high jump), Aaron George (long jump), Tramesha Hardy (200m), De’Marcus Porter (400m), Antonisha Stewart (60m hurdles) and both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams. The outdoor SBC Championships saw De’Quad binder (800m), Julie Lange (discuss), Decoud (high jump), Porter (400m), Stewart (100m hurdles) and both the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m relays win gold for the Bobcats.
Hardy recorded two strong performances at both conference meets to be named the SBC Women’s Most Outstanding Freshman for the indoor and outdoor seasons.
Texas State had 23 athletes qualify to compete at the NCAA First Round meet in 2016. Six qualified for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon with all earning All-American honors. Decoud led the way with first team accolades in the high jump. Mylana Hearn received second team honors in the triple jump and the foursome of Anthony Johnson, Dexter Lee, Lincoln Warren and Porter received honorable mention in the 4x400m relay.
Overall, five school records broken by Jordan Huckaby (hammer), Kelly Trevino (3000m steeplechase) Porter (60m), Stewart (60m hurdles) and distance medley relay squad of Noe Belmares, Tyrone Jackson, Kyle Denomme and Binder. The team also excelled in the classroom with seven Bobcats earning USTFCCCA All-Academic honors to led all Sun Belt Conference schools in men (4), women (3) and total recipients.
On Monday, September 28, 2015, Stewart was named the Director of Track and Field/Cross Country at Texas State. As he assumes the first head coaching position in his career, Stewart’s previous success in recruiting and coaching is undeniable. As the associate head coach for track and field at Stanford the past three years, Stewart helped recruit the top men’s recruiting class in the NCAA in 2015 while the women’s class ranked fifth. In 2014, Stanford’s women’s class ranked third in the NCAA while the men were fifth, including the top sprint prospect in the nation and one of the top sprint classes in the country.
At Stanford, Stewart was in charge of sprints and hurdles. He coached a World Championship finalist, an NCAA Champion, an NCAA collegiate record-holder, an Australian National Champion, a Pan-American Games medalist, a 2013 Bowerman finalist, the 2013 USTFCCCA Women’s Track & Field Athlete of the Year and the 2013 PAC-12 Conference Athlete of the Year.
Before Stanford, Stewart spent three seasons at Georgetown where he was responsible for a resurgence in Hoya sprinting. He was also in charge of the sprints, hurdles and jumps at Bowling Green from 2008-2010.
The Columbus, Ohio native knows about national powers. In 2015, Stanford’s women’s track and field program was third among all NCAA Division I programs for the Terry Crawford Program of the Year Award. Both the men and women were top-20 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships while the women’s team placed eighth during the NCAA Indoor Championships. In 2014, the women’s program ranked second and the men’s program stood seventh among all NCAA Division I programs in the running for the prestigious Terry Crawford and John McDonnell Program of the Year awards.
At Georgetown in 2012, Stewart played a significant role in the women’s program winning the Big East Indoor Conference Championship and being recognized as the eighth best NCAA Division I program. In 2011, both the men’s and women’s track and field teams at Georgetown were ranked top 10 in the country in the prestigious program of the year awards.
| The Jody Stewart File |
| Coaching Highlights |
Stewart has coached
- World Championship Finalist
- NCAA Champion
- NCAA Collegiate Record Holder
- Australian National Champion
- Pan-American Games Medalist
- 2013 Bowerman Finalist
- Four Olympic Trial Qualifiers
- 30 NCAA All-Americans
- 34 NCAA Championship Qualifiers
- 58 NCAA First Round Qualifiers
- 2013 USTFCCCA Women's Track and Field Athlete of the Year
- 2013 Pac-12 Conference Athlete of the Year
- Multiple individual and relay conference champions |
| Coaching Experience |
| 2016-Pres. |
Director of Track & Field/Cross Country |
Texas State |
| 2012-15 |
Associate Head Coach |
Stanford |
| 2010-12 |
Assistant Track & Field Coach |
Georgetown |
| 2008-10 |
Assistant Track & Field Coach |
Bowling Green State |
| 2008 |
Assistant Track & Field Coach |
Northwood (Mich.) |
| 2006-08 |
Volunteer Assistant Track & Field Coach |
Ashland (Ohio) |
| Education |
| 2008 |
Master of Education |
Cleveland State |
| 2006 |
Bachelor of Science in Education |
Ashland (Ohio) |
| Athletic Experience |
| 2002-06 |
Track and Field |
Ashland (Ohio) |
|
- Four-time NCAA Division II All-American
- Four-time conference champion
- 2003 Conference Most Valuable Performer
- Four-time Academic All-American |
Just last season, Stewart was able to propel the freshman duo of Olivia Baker and Daniel Brady to represent their respective countries during the 2015 Junior Pan-American Games. Baker won gold, representing team USA in the 1,600-meter relay and finished third at the US Junior National Championships in the 400-meter dash while demolishing the all-time Stanford freshman 400m record.
Brady represented team Canada in the 400m hurdles and 1,600m relay, earning silver and bronze respectively. Baker would go on to receive All-America honors in the 800m and 1,600m relay at the NCAA Championships. For Stewart, there were twelve all-time top 10 performances during the 2015 outdoor season. During the indoor season, Baker and Kristyn Williams both broke school records. Williams broke Stanford’s indoor 400m record while Baker broke the school’s record in the 600m.
Stewart was able to build on a strong 2014 season in which he coached Kori Carter to an NCAA Championship and collegiate record in the 400-meter hurdles. Her title and NCAA runner-up finish in the 100-meter hurdles helped lift her among the three finalists for The Bowerman, collegiate track and field’s highest honor, showcasing Stewart’s coaching abilities. In 2013, Carter ran the world’s fastest time three times in the 400m hurdles, culminating in her collegiate record of 53.21 at the NCAA Championships. Carter dropped her time by 3.49 seconds in the 400m hurdles and 0.23 in the 100m hurdles in just one year under Stewart’s tutelage.
In his first two seasons in Palo Alto, Stewart coached athletes to seven school records: Carter in three hurdle events with an 8.17 in the 60m hurdles, 12.73 in the 100m hurdles and 53.21 in the 400m hurdles; Steven Solomon in the men’s outdoor 400-meter dash (45.36) and indoor 500m (1:01.44); and Kristyn Williams in the indoor 400m (53.36) and 500m (1:10.82). Solomon went on to capture the 2014 Australian national championship and a berth on his country’s Commonwealth Games team. Williams, meanwhile, ran a 52.70 in the 400m, the third-fastest time in Stanford’s school history.
In 2012, Stewart coached four Georgetown athletes to Olympic trials qualifying marks. Both Amanda Kimbers and London Finley participated in the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials. Kimbers ran the 100 meters after achieving the automatic standard with a school-record 11.25. Finley competed in the Olympic trials after hitting the provisional mark of 56.67 in the 400m hurdles, also a school record. Finley achieved All-America honors in the 400-meter hurdles and won the Big East Championship with a conference-record time in the 400m hurdles.
Finley, Kimbers, Tenile Stoudenmire and Chelsea Cox ran the fastest outdoor 4x400m 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 the school record in the 200m with a time of 23.28, and the sprints group had five athletes compete in the NCAA West Preliminary and eight who received All-Big East outdoor honors.
During the 2012 indoor season, the Georgetown women’s program won the Big East title and the coaching staff earned indoor staff of the year honors. The women’s 4x400m relay team captured their second consecutive conference indoor title. Kimbers broke a school record in the 60m dash and was one of eight athletes to receive 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 hurdles All-American, three conference champions and multiple all-conference athletes and relay teams.
Stewart was a four-time NCAA Division II All-American at Ashland. He was a four-time Academic All-American and the 2003 conference Most Valuable Performer in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Graduating with a bachelor’s in health education in 2006, Stewart went on to earn 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.
Stewart and his wife Amber have a son, Sebastian.
