Each Sunday during the 2016-17 school year, the Carson-Newman athletic communications department will shine a spotlight on a current or former Carson-Newman student-athlete looking to tell a tale of life outside of his or her respective sport.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.—Carson-Newman University is an institution for many as hundreds of incoming freshman flee to the premiere Christian University of the South every year, but for the Stepp family, Carson-Newman is almost a rite of passage from one family member to the next.

Tanner Stepp (Jefferson City, Tenn.) is a local product from nearby Jefferson County High School, but in only his first two years a part of the Carson-Newman track and field program, the high jumper has already been deemed the most decorated track and field athlete in program history.

As a freshman, Stepp broke both the indoor and outdoor men's Eagle high jumping records with 2.13 and 2.14 meter leaps en route to both the 2015 NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships. At the national stage, the newcomer took home his first two All-American plaques with fifth and ninth-place finishes in the events.

A year later as a sophomore, the athlete increased his school records in a big way with a 2.14 meter leap in the indoor sector at the Camel City Classic on Jan. 29 and again in the outdoor season with a 2.13 meter mark on a national stage at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

The impressive year sent Stepp home with two more All-American honors from the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association to make it four honors in only two years of service. All in all during his rookie and sophomore seasons, Stepp garnered four All-Southeast regional selections, an Indoor Southeast Regional Championship and a Southeast Regional Field Athlete of the Year honor.

Now a junior, Stepp looks to continue elevating his game while chasing down the ever illusive National Championship the high jumper is destined to find before his career comes to a halt.

"A thing that my brother Tyler has always told me is that you can either be an All-American or the National Champion," Tanner Stepp said. "You can come in second place but only be an All-American. Considering I have not won the National Championship yet, that is what keeps me hungry. That is the next step and that is what I am trying to work to accomplish."

Aiding Stepp in the process through it all is his older brother, current C-N cross country coach and track and field assistant, Tyler Stepp, and his father Mark Stepp, who serves as a volunteer coach.  The Stepp brother, Tyler, has been an instrumental part to Tanner's success as he was brought on to the coaching staff just prior to the start of the youngest Stepp's collegiate career.  

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Tyler Stepp spent time at the University of Tennessee and East Tennessee State University competing collegiately in track and field as a jumper.

While competing athletically, Tyler Stepp garnered second-team All-American honors from the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Associations in the long jump following his junior and senior seasons at ETSU. The C-N coach won three Atlantic Sun Conference titles in the event as well and qualified for the United States Track and Field Championships in 2013.   

Prior to graduating ETSU with honors with a Bachelor's of Science degree, Tyler Stepp earned USTFCCCA academic All-American honors for his classroom performance during his junior and senior campaigns. He was also named to the ASC All-Academic team for three-straight years as a Buccaneer. 

Now joined together along with their father Mark Stepp, the men from the Stepp family are all in a constant pursuit of chasing down a National Championship for Tanner.

"Our dad has been with both Tyler and I for as long as I can remember," Tanner Stepp said. "He is the one that got us into this sport and he has been there lending a helping hand ever since. It's a feeling of normalcy for us to have dad at practice and coaching at competitions.

"As far as having my brother as my main jumper coach, I would say that doesn't happen too often throughout the country. Just the fact that he probably knows me better than anybody certainly helps. He knows what I need, what I can and can't do, and how to push me the right way. Part of my success so far is him knowing exactly how to push me and work with me."

For Tyler, the coach believes that the two brothers, along with their father, respect the business nature of the sport and that allows them to work extremely well together on the field.

"We respect each other and the jobs that we have to do pretty well," Tyler Stepp said. "We can kind of flip that switch when we get on campus and it's time to practice, but we can also go back to being goofy brothers and sons once the training session is over. When I come to work every day, my goal is to help my kids be the best they can be on any given day, and Tanner knows that.

"Seeing the way my dad worked with Tanner during his high school days helped me to be a better coach for him now in college. I would pick up on some things that he did well with him and then I would add in some things that I knew would work well. I try to apply all those things to what we do here and they have been pretty successful so far."

Though Tanner, Tyler and Mark Stepp are currently engulfed in Carson-Newman through their love for track and field, they are not the only ones in the family that has ties to Mossy Creek as 15 members of the Stepp family have been students at Carson-Newman over the years.

Tanner, who is currently a Dean's List recipient pursuing an accounting degree, and Tyler, who just graduated from the C-N MBA program in Dec. of 2016, have countless family connections through the school which include former Carson-Newman football All-American, Mark Isom.    

Setting the sport of track and field aside, both Stepp brothers have grown to love and truly appreciate what this school has meant to their family and to their lives individually.

"I was fortunate enough to graduate from a good school in ETSU, but I was blessed to be given the opportunity to come and continue my education and to begin my coaching career at Carson-Newman," Tyler Stepp said. "I can never completely express how valuable Carson-Newman has been to our family. I just can't because I don' think we are who we are without this university."   

Though Tanner Stepp may be the last in line, for now, to come through Carson-Newman, he too knows the value of this school and the privilege it is to carry on a proud tradition of Eagles.

"When I go and compete, I have such a strong support system. I have Tyler and my dad coaching me, but the rest of my family travels with us just about everywhere we go," Tanner Stepp said. "It's a comforting feeling knowing they are all there to support me. We are an extremely close family, so it's an honor that I get to represent my family's alma mater every time I go and jump."

-CN-