Oct. 4, 2012

STANFORD, Calif. -- Chris Miltenberg has announced the hiring of Jody Stewart as an assistant coach for track and field responsible for sprints and hurdles. Stewart comes to Stanford from Georgetown where he took over as the sprints, jumps and hurdles coach in 2011.

"I am extremely excited to bring Jody Stewart on board as our sprints coach. We have some great young talent on both the men's and women's side in those event areas and I know Jody will do an incredible job developing. I have worked very closely with Jody during our time at Georgetown and I really believe he is the best young sprint coach in the country and a great fit for the direction of our program here at Stanford."

Stewart was responsible for the 2012 season at Georgetown, considered the greatest year ever for Hoya sprinters. Stewart coached a pair of Georgetown sprinters to the U.S. Olympic Trials, a first in school history.

"I am just excited to continue working with Chris," said Stewart. "He is a great coach and a great leader. We look forward to doing great thing at Stanford. Now, I am just looking forward to meeting everyone and getting started."

Stewart spent three seasons at Georgetown and was responsible for a resurgence in Hoya sprinting. After two seasons assisting with the sprints, jumps and hurdles, Stewart took over those event groups in August of 2011.

During the 2012 outdoor season, 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-meter dash after achieving the automatic standard by running 11.25 and setting a new school record. Finely competed in the Olympic Trials after achieving the provisional mark of 56.67 in the 400-meter hurdles, which was also a new school record.

During the 2012 indoor season, the women's program won the BIG EAST Conference Championship. The coaching staff received indoor staff of the year honors. The women's 4x400-meter relay won their second-consecutive BIG EAST indoor title. Amanda Kimbers was the BIG EAST Runner-Up in the 200 meters and was third in the 60-meter dash, while breaking the school record with a time of 7.43 during the preliminaries. Kimbers was also 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 University. While at Bowling Green, Stewart recruited one of the top sprint classes in the Mid-American Conference, coached four top-10 all-time school performances and developed multiple Mid-American Conference scorers.

As a collegiate athlete, Stewart attended Ashland University, where he was a four-time NCAA Division II All-American, four-time Academic All-American, four-time Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champion and the 2003 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Most Valuable Performer.

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