By David Freeze
Stephens is First Ever National Champ at Catawba College
Miles Stephens, a senior from Bradenton, Florida, became the first national champion, either team or individual, in any sport at Catawba College. On March 14th. he won the 200-meter dash with a time of 20.76 seconds in the Division ll Indoor Meet at Virginia Beach, Virginia. Catawba Track and Cross-Country Coach Jason Bryan said, “Miles was ranked 10th going into the meet and had only finished fourth at the SAC Conference Meet two weeks prior to this performance. This shows just how strong our conference is, yet Miles’ time was the eighth fastest in Dll history. Cheerleading did win a national meet back in 2000, but it was an unofficial and non-sanctioned meet.”
Stephens said, “Going into the competition I knew I had an opportunity to win based off my progression and training the past few weeks. Despite the results of our conference championship, I knew I could still win on the biggest stage of the season no matter what had happened previously. After advancing through the prelims with the third best time, I knew I could run much faster in the final. Ultimately, the next day all I needed to do was execute by trusting in my body and my coach to finish what I set out to do. After winning my heat, I knew I had to wait for the finishing times from the second heat to see whether I won overall, so I couldn’t celebrate too much yet. I was excited with the time that I ran! Finally, after seeing the second heat wasn’t as fast and that my time had won, I was ecstatic and didn’t know what to think! It didn’t really hit me for a couple days that I had won a national championship, but it got me even more excited for our outdoor season and so on. Going into this year, I didn’t have the same expectations that I do now for myself. I’m excited to continue competing for Catawba college, my coaches, and my teammates.”
Stephens credits his mom as his main support person and knows he wouldn’t be where he is now without her. Stephens started running track as a senior in high school at Braden River High School after playing soccer earlier.
Stephens added, “The greatest takeaway from my experiences at Catawba is that everything happens for a reason. I ended up at Catawba after Coach Bryan took notice of me at the Last Chance Track Meet before the 2024 Outdoor National Championship. After my last race, I entered the portal, and he reached out to me almost immediately to let me know more about Catawba and the program. After going on visits and talking to several schools, I ended up going with Catawba for both academic and athletic reasons. I’ve enjoyed my experience so far at Catawba, even through the adversity and change I had to experience.”
The sprint coach that Stephens was training under ended up leaving during his first semester at Catawba. Going into his first competition, Stephens didn’t know what to expect. He said, “In that first race, I ran the #1 time in the country in the 60 meter and set a personal best and school record, which helped me know I was on the right path and that coming to Catawba was worth it. I’ve learned at Catawba that there are several ups and downs in a journey towards my goal, but ultimately, anything is possible. I’m glad to be able to give back to the coaches, teammates, and program that helped lift me up and give me this opportunity to compete on the biggest stage and win our school’s first national championship.”
Stephens plans to graduate this spring after completing his bachelor’s degree in finance and economics, and afterwards, he would like to work here in North Carolina. Stephens added, “It would be a luxury to run after college and continue competing, but I also want to give back to my mom and also venture into the next path in my life outside of track. I’d like to work in either banking or financial management. If I could, I would also be interested in coaching youth, not only as a coach but as someone who can share similar experiences in this world that’s changing so fast.”
Our next local event is the West Rowan Bible Teachers 5K at Cleveland on April 18th. Look for this and other events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org
