PITTSBURG, Kan. – Carson-Newman Track & Field has its first National Champion in the Division II era. Tanner Stepp collected the top finish in the high jump at the NCAA D2 Track & Field Championships this afternoon after clearing a height of 2.17 meters.
National Championship winning jump pic.twitter.com/cINYwF0J0K
— Carson-Newman Track / XC (@CN_Track) March 10, 2018
The native of Jefferson City, Tenn. had failed to clear 2.16 meters multiple times this season, but was able to get enough lift on his third attempt to win the event.
Stepp sat in third-place before the jump at 2.17 propelled him to the first ever National Champion at Carson-Newman at any sport during the D2 era. He also became the first ever National Champion in Track & Field in South Atlantic Conference history.
Just a year ago in the 2017 Indoor Championships, Stepp failed to clear a height at the NCAA's.
The height puts Stepp second all-time in SAC history in the event for both the indoor and outdoor, runner-up to Queens' Jordan Vukicevic who reached 2.18 meters in April of 2014 at the Johnson C. Smith Invitational.
The previous indoor recorder holder of 2.14 meters at C-N came from Stepp during the 2016 campaign. Stepp cleared that mark on his second attempt before continuing on the 2.17-meter height.
"The bar went to 2.14 which was my previous PR and I cleared it pretty big so I knew when it went to 2.17, I just needed to stay the same and I would go clear," Stepp stated.
Ian Duncan of Pittsburg St. and Kenneth Lloyd of Eastern New Mexico were the only other athletes to attempt jumps at the 7-1 ½ foot height. Both knocked the bar off in all three attempts.
To begin the event, Stepp was just one three jumpers who cleared the height of 2.03 meters and 2.08 meters in their first attempt. Four jumpers remained after the 2.11-meter height with Central Missouri's Jesse Miller checking out after the 2.14-meter bar.
Tanner marks the third Eagle to collect All-American honors this weekend, joining Kieran Showler-Davis and Devon Moore who earned second-team respects in the 60-meter dash yesterday.
It marks just the second time in program history that three or more Eagles garnered All-American honors in the same indoor or outdoor season. The last time came in the 1980 outdoor season when a whopping six Eagles earned the accolade.
Stepp was the national runner-up in the NCAA's last year during the outdoor season clearing 2.13 meters. It's the sixth time in the senior's career he has received All-America honors in the high jump.
"There's a lot of things than can be said but just to be a part of that moment as a coach was certainly special," Head Coach David Needs exclaimed. "To see him do what he has worked so hard to get to is fantastic."
TF: Congratulations to Carson-Newman's Tanner Stepp - 2018 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Champion in the Men's High Jump with a leap of 2.17 meters! #MakeItYours #D2TF pic.twitter.com/93c2DcW1WY
— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII) March 10, 2018
"Today was just a product of four years of hard work and dedication," Assistant Coach Tyler Stepp explained. "To be national runner-up in outdoors last year and come back and win it shows the resolve it takes to be a champion."
Tanner's older brother Tyler has been an assistant coach with the team for the past five years.
The indoor season has commenced for C-N Track as the men's team finished the year with a final ranking of 20th in the nation, the highest in program history.
-CN-
