NEW ORLEANS—Tyler Stepp was named the Southeast Region's Indoor Track & Field Assistant Coach of the Year for the third consecutive season when the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association announced the awards Tuesday afternoon.
Stepp, who is in his third season as an assistant coach for the Carson-Newman track and field team, is the first Eagle coach to be given the honor for the first three season to begin a career.
Led by five athletes who provisionally qualified for the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Stepp's guidance in both the horizontal and verticle jumps have brought the coach to the forefront in the region.
The coach's younger brother, Tanner Stepp (Jefferson City, Tenn.), leads the pack as the lone field athlete for C-N to be making the trek to the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala. over the course of March 9-11.
Now a junior, the younger brother has not missed a beat thus far into his third indoor campaign as the local product leaped a season-best of 2.11 meters at the Buccaneer Invitational on Feb. 2. All five of Stepp's jumps this season have been either 2.00 meters or better while three have surpassed the 2.06 meter mark.
Currently tied for seventh in Division II, Stepp heads to the national stage even with Cameron Burrows (Tiffin), Trey Everett (Findlay) and Michael Sandle (Minnesota State), with the 2.11 meter mark. The foursome fall just behind Barton's Lawrence Russel Jr. (2.13 meters), Minnesota State's Jeff DeCock (2.13 meters), Grand Valley State's Hunter Weeks (2.15 metrs), Ashland's Myles Pringle (2.17 meters), Wingate's Isaiah Kyle (2.17 meters) and Saint Martin's Mikel Smith (2.12 meters).
Others who benefited from the coaching of Stepp this season was Tiana Mills (Chattanooga, Tenn.), T.J. Davis (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Christian Stumpf (Johnson City, Tenn.). Though the trio did not meet a qualifying mark to the indoor showcase, the athletes narrowly missed out on the honor while still performing near the top of the region all season long.
Mills provisionally qualified for both the women's long and triple jump while eyeing her second postseason voyage of her career. The senior tallied a season-best leap of 12.03 meters in the triple jump and 5.70 meters in the long jump.
Going into the George Mason Last Chance Meet on Sunday, Feb. 27, the jumper was in the latter half of the top-50 ranked triple jumpers in the nation, but following the season-best mark, Mills jumped into a tie for 18th in the nation while just missing out on the cutoff to the indoor championships. Mills concluded the indoor sector with an All-Region selection in both the triple and long jumps.
Davis, also a senior, jumped for an indoor-best and second-best overall leap of his career during the indoor realm this season with a mark of 7.24 meters in the long jump at the East Tennessee State University Track & Field Invitational on Jan. 27. The jump propelled the veteran to his fourth All-Southeast Region selection.
The other C-N high jumper, Stumpf, ramped up his game as a sophomore this season under the tutelage of Stepp by recording a career-best mark of 2.07 meters at the Buccaneer Invitational. The athlete finished the season tied for 20th in the nation in the event while also picking up an All-Region selection.
Two more horizontal jumpers made headlines for the Eagles on the season thanks to the coaching of Stepp as Kristofer Potts-Howard (Tullahoma, Tenn.) was a Southeast Region performer in the triple jump and Ray Artybidge (Iva, S.C.) an all-region performer in the long jump. The former recorded a season-best leap of 14.35 meters in the triple on the year while the regning South Atlantic Conference long jumping champion, Artybidge, tapped out at 7.18 meters in the long jump.
Though Stepp is primarily invested in the jumping events, the three-time Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year also assists in the pole vaulting events where Marshall Shank (Granite Quarry, N.C.) picked up his second Southeast Region honor during his sophomore season. The C-N record holder in the event recorded a season-best mark of 4.40 meters in the event this season.
Prior to the start of the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, Stepp will be honored alongside the rest of the regional award winners at a banquet ceremony hosted by the USTFCCCA. To see the full list of the Division II award winners, please click here.
Stepp, along with coach David Needs, Tanner Stepp and Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.) are currently in Birmingham, Ala. awaiting the start of the Indoor Championships.
