Jake Stewart Position: Assistant Coach Experience: 2nd Year

Jake Stewart is in his second season as Lamar University's assistant track and field coach.

It didn't take Stewart long to make a name for himself in the Southland Conference, earning Coach of the Year accolades for men's cross country this past call, his first season in charge of the Lamar cross country units.

Stewart, a USATF Level 1 certified coach, came to Lamar from Iona College, where he was the assistant coach of the men's and women's cross country and track and field teams. He also served as the program's recruiting coordinator for the Midwest and Northwest.

During Stewart's time at Iona, the men's cross country program enjoyed unprecedented success with three top-three finishes. The Gaels were third in 2006 and second in 2007 and 2008. The runner-up finishes are the highest of any athletic program in Iona history.

The Gaels also won three consecutive Northeast Regional titles and Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference crowns. The men's program also excelled in the classroom, earning NCAA Division I Men's All-Academic Cross Country Team of the Year honors in 2006 and 2007.

The women's cross country program at Iona also enjoyed success with MAAC championships in all three seasons that Stewart served as assistant coach. In 2006, Iona earned its first-ever automatic bid to the NCAA Championships with a second-place finish at the NCAA Regional meet.

In his three seasons at Iona, Stewart helped coach four athletes who represented their nations at the World Cross Country Championships, eight All-Americans in both cross country and track & field, 10 athletes who qualified for the NCAA Track & Field Championships and 26 MAAC champions in indoor and outdoor track.

As an undergraduate at Iona, Stewart was a vital part of four MAAC championship teams, three Northeast Regional championship squads and four teams that finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Division I Championships.

He was the Gaels' team captain in 2005, as the Gaels finished fourth at the NCAA Division I Championships. He holds the honor of being the first walk-on in Iona history to be a team captain.

In the spring of 2006, Stewart was an assistant track coach at Western Oregon University. While at Western Oregon, he worked primarily with the distance program. Four of his athletes provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division II National Championships. He was also the program's Western United States recruiting coordinator as he helped bring in one of the deepest recruiting classes in the school's history.

A native of Kelso, Wash., Stewart and his wife, Brandi, reside in Beaumont.