The Shorter College athletic department announces that Jay Stephenson will head up the Men\'s and Women\'s Cross Country and Track program at Shorter College beginning his duties immediately. The program will begin competition in the fall of 2006.
Coach Jay Stephenson graduated from Parkview High School in Lilburn, GA in 1999. At Parkview, he was a member of the 4x800m school record, which still stands.
"Coach Jay" graduated from Berry College in 2003 with a B.S. in Marketing concentrating in Sports Marketing, and a minor in Coaching. He was a three time All-American at Berry College, twice in the 3000m Steeplechase and once in Cross Country.
After graduation, Coach Jay assisted the Berry College Men and Women's running teams for 2 ½ years. During that time, the men's team qualified for the NAIA Cross Country National Championship meet three times and the women's team qualified for the NAIA Cross Country National Championship meet two times. Also several individuals qualified for the NAIA Indoor and Outdoor National Championship meets. The teams also had two Cross Country All-Americans and several Academic All-Americans in Cross Country and Track.
Coach Jay has pursued the scientific side of running through graduate study at Georgia State University. Jay will complete his Masters of Exercise Science degree in the summer of 2006. Coach Jay and his wife, Karmen, both have their USATF Level I Coaching Certification. They look forward to completing their USATF Level II Coaching Certification in 2007.
As an athlete, Coach Jay is still competing on the national level. He has PRs of 14:18 for 5k, 29:43 for 10k, and 8:53 for 3k Steeplechase.
Coach Jay is dedicated to coaching runners to their potential as athletes, students and people. He looks forward to building nationally competitive Cross Country and Track teams at Shorter College.
Coach Stephenson\'s wife, Karmen Stephenson, graduated from Berry College in 2002 with a B.S. in Chemistry and a minor in Math. "Coach K" is currently teaching 6th grade science and is finishing her Masters of Education degree.
While at Berry, Coach K was part of four NAIA Cross Country National teams and two NAIA Indoor Track National teams. Her PRs are 19:50 for CC 5k, 4:56 for 1500m, and 2:22 for 800m. She is still running and will assist the Shorter Cross Country and Track teams in various capacities.