The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
XC: Women_Old
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Stephen Sisson
5th Season at Texas
Alma Mater: University of Texas '93
In August of 2006, University of Texas head women's track and field coach Bev Kearney announced the hiring of former Texas All-America distance performer Stephen Sisson as assistant coach of the Longhorns' women's track and field/cross country program.
In Sisson's first season with the cross country team, the Longhorns improved their team finishes at both the Big 12 Cross Country Championship and NCAA South Central Region meets. UT successfully defending its Texas State Invitational Championship, and placed in the top three in each of the first three meets.
Sisson coached the distance area, led by ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American and 2007 Big 12 runner-up in the 10K Landra Stewardson. Stewardson ended her four-year career in the top five all-time performer in Texas history carried a perfect 4.0 grade point average in kinesiology. Stewardson lowered her lifetime-best in the 10K by four minutes, and she cut 30 seconds off her 3,000- and 5,000-meter career times.
Sisson and Kearney worked with junior 800-meter runner Temeka Kincy, who earned two All-America honors with a fourth-place finish in the 800 and as a leg of the 4x400-meter relay at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor National Championships. Kincy shaved close to six seconds off her career-best over a two-week period and ran a lifetime best in the final round of one of the fastest 800 races in NCAA history.
Prior to joining the staff as a full-time coach, Sisson worked as a volunteer assistant with Texas on two separate occasions, most recently serving as volunteer coach with the UT women's program since December of 2005.
Sisson served as a coach, manager and director at Austin's RunTex University (2001-04) prior to his duties as business owner of the Rogue Training Systems, based in Austin, since 2004.
As a UT student-athlete, Sisson competed from 1989-91 and in 1993. He was a three-time All-American in cross country and track and field, finishing 19th at the 1990 NCAA Cross Country National Championships, third at 5000 meters at the 1993 NCAA indoor meet and fifth in the 10,000 meter run at the 1993 NCAA outdoor event.
Sisson held the Longhorns indoor 5,000 meter school record for 10 years with a time of 13:50.4, set at the 1993 NCAA indoor nationals, and currently ranks second all-time in that event.
Sisson's leadership and talent stood out as he captained the cross country team for three years and the track team for one season.
Sisson also was the three-time Southwest Conference individual champion in the indoor and outdoor 5,000 and steeplechase events, and helped lead the Longhorns to SWC titles in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field.
In 1993, Sisson represented the United States internationally at both the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Word Half-Marathon Championships in Brussels, Belgium and at the Niagata (Japan) Ekiden Relay.
A native of San Antonio, he graduated from Churchill High School where he was the 1988 Texas 5A state champion at 3200 meters (two-mile champion).
