The Citadel Athletics

Jody Huddleston has been at the helm of The Citadel track and field and cross country programs, one of the most successful programs at The Citadel and in the Southern Conference, for 35 years.

Huddleston’s tenure has witnessed a total of 96 conference champions, 454 total All-Southern Conference performers, the first woman to compete in athletics at The Citadel, the first woman to win a conference championship for the Bulldogs and the first woman to compete in an NCAA championship event in school history. In addition, The Citadel has achieved 12 NCAA regional qualifying marks since the implementation of the regional championship system in 2003.

The 2020 season may have been cut short, but the Bulldogs still managed to make the most of the indoor season as the ‘Dogs collected six medals and set 17 personal records at the 2020 SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships, including Kaeleigh Guth setting the program record in the women’s triple jump. Junior Sam Blumer took home the gold medal in the men’s pole vault with teammate Devin Merrick finishing second, Prince Howard-Whitaker claimed second in both the shot put and men’s 35-pound weight throw, Mya Dollard finished third in the women’s high jump, and Jacquary Bradford took home third in the men’s long jump.

Blumer set the men’s program record in the pole vault twice during the season, earning back-to-back SoCon Men’s Field Athlete of the Week honors as well as one SoCon Student-Athlete of the Week plaudit.

During the 2020 campaign, the Bulldogs set nine program records, including four by freshman distance runner Sam Sharnas. Sharnas set the program freshman record in the 3,000-meter, 5,000-meter and mile races, and was also part of the men’s freshman distance medley relay (DMR) team, along with Andrew Smith, Kane Duncan and Aidan Richter that set the program freshman record in the event. Freshman distance runner Heidi Fortin set the women’s program freshman record in the mile, and the freshman men’s 4x400-meter relay team of Treonte Newton, Richter, Smith and Duncan set their own program freshman record.

Following the 2019 cross country season, Fortin earned the women’s cross country program’s first-ever All-Freshman Team honor.

In 2019, The Citadel claimed six medals at the 2019 SoCon Indoor Championships, including Josiah Johnson winning the 60-meter dash to tie his own program record in the event. Johnson also finished second in the men’s 200-meter dash, while Blumer and Merrick finished second and third in the men’s pole vault, Bradford finished second in the men’s long jump, and Trey Richardson finished the 400-meter dash in third.

The ‘Dogs took home eight medals during the outdoor portion of the 2019 campaign, including Johnson winning the 100-meter dash and placing second in the 200m, Blumer finishing third in the pole vault and Charlie Hatler finishing third in the javelin. Jessy Page finished third in the women’s hammer throw and Shannon Ziccarello finished third in the women’s javelin. The men’s 4x100-meter relay team of Johnson, Timiebi Ogobri, Richardson and Bradford finished first and the men’s 4x400-meter relay team of Johnson Richardson, Jeremy Shipley and Stephan Kulick finished third.

Following the regular season, Johnson qualified for the 100-meter dash in the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the second time in as many years, running in the East Preliminaries.

The 2018 season added another chapter to the Bulldog success with over 20 school records and one Southern Conference record, nine conference champions, 24 all-conference athletes and a record number of points scored at the conference championship meet. Malik Diggs broke the Southern Conference and school record by winning the 110-meter hurdles, and also won the 400-meter hurdles and the 4x100 relay. Johnson won the 100-meter dash by breaking the school record and was on the 4x100 championship team. Both Diggs and Johnson qualified for the Preliminary Rounds of the NCAA Championships. Mady Riegel earned her third All-SoCon award with a second-place finish in the javelin, while Jessy Page finished third in the discus.

In 2017, three Bulldogs earned Southern Conference outdoor titles. Malik Diggs became a two-time champion in the 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles at the championships, the first athlete to win both events in the same year since 2013 and the fourth since 1996. Along with Diggs, Derrick Freeland broke the Citadel’s all-time record to take first place in the hammer throw, and Mady Riegel earned her second SoCon championship in the javelin. Diggs, Freeland and Riegel, along with six other Bulldogs received All-Conference honors.

The 2016 season saw Capers Williamson compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, making him the first athlete from The Citadel to compete in the final round of the U.S. Olympic trials. Williamson, who finished eighth at the trials, set the program’s record for the furthest javelin throw when he took first place at the 2016 SoCon Outdoor Championship. In his final season at The Citadel, the Greer, South Carolina, native broke the program and Southern Conference records three times and became the first Bulldog to earn SoCon Field Athlete of the Month honors twice in the same campaign. Mady Riegel also earned her first SoCon title in the javelin during the 2016 outdoor season as the pair swept the titles at the Southern Conference Championships.

In 2014 a total of 20 school records were achieved by the men and women during the indoor and outdoor seasons. Five conference champions were crowned, and The Citadel boasted 16 all-conference athletes. Leading the way was Jamaal Brantley, who established himself as the top sprinter in the SoCon with an indoor 60 meter and indoor and outdoor 200 meter titles. His two wins at the indoor meet last March earned him track athlete of the meet honors.

Clay Allen and Capers Williamson placed first and second in the javelin at the SoCon meet, and Allen threw 218-6 in the first outdoor meet of the season to break Kris Kut’s previous school record by almost four feet. Eddie Jones eclipsed the oldest mark in The Citadel record book with a long jump of 24-4 1/4, passing Bill Elliott’s record that had stood since 1962.

Three Bulldogs – Allen and Williamson in the javelin and Jones in the long jump – qualified for the first round of the NCAA championships, with Williamson placing 13th, just one spot away from the NCAA Championship final.

During the 2013 cross country season, The Citadel had a pair of athletes – Raeven Lantz on the men’s side and Danielle McKee for the women – both earn SoCon Runner of the Week awards on two occasions.

The 2012-13 track and field season saw the men’s and women’s teams establish 25 indoor and outdoor school records and land nine athletes on the indoor and outdoor all-conference list. The highlight for the women’s team came at the indoor championships with the first all-conference performance in school history by a relay team as Micah Wessinger, Danielle McKee, Tanisha Bethel and Danielle Williams finished third in a school-record time of 3:55.04.

In 2010 Huddleston guided McKee, then a freshman, to a first-place finish at the Royal Cross Country Challenge with a time of 19 minutes, just one second behind the school record. The following spring, Huddleston coached Brunson Miller to his fifth and sixth SoCon titles in the indoor and outdoor track seasons, including a school-record run in the 400 at the 2011 SoCon outdoor track and field championships.

Huddleston was named the 2009 SoCon Indoor Track and Field Coach of the Year after the team achieved a great deal of success during the indoor season and at the conference championships. Brian Baize clinched the school record in the heptathlon, Kevin Hardy took the title in the long jump at the SoCon Championships, and Jamel Brown earned all-conference honors in the 60 hurdles. Brown joined Christopher Graham and Zach Johnson in earning all-conference honors for the 4x400 relay, and Hardy and Graham made the SoCon’s inaugural All-Freshman team.

During the 2009 outdoor season, Brilliance Gilchrist-Poteat broke the school record in the 100 hurdles while Brown earned an automatic bid to the NCAA East Regional. At the SoCon outdoor championships, Brown captured his second conference title in the 110 hurdles while Hardy won his second title as a freshman in the long jump. Graham, Johnson, Baize and Aaron Overton joined Brown in earning all-conference honors for the 4x400m relay. For the women, Gilchrist-Poteat and Theresa Johansen made the All-Freshman team as did Hardy and Overton for the men.

The 2008 season witnessed Brown winning the school’s first SoCon title for The Citadel since 2004 as he brought home the 400 hurdles title from the outdoor championships. That victory was one of Brown’s four all-conference accolades on the season. Huddleston also guided Tasha Sanders to three all-conference honors and a pair of runner-up finishes at the SoCon Championships in the pentathlon and heptathlon.

In 2007 Huddleston led the Bulldogs to four Southern Conference championships with the women’s team recording their best finish in school history, taking fifth at the outdoor meet with a program-best 56 points. Senior Stephanie McNeill brought home three individual titles (20-pound weight throw, hammer, shot put) while Sanders won her first SoCon crown (heptathlon). The men’s team showcased a stellar hurdles squad, placing two finalists in the 110 and three in the 400 hurdles at the league’s outdoor meet.

Huddleston guided the Bulldogs to an historic 2006 track and field season, including McNeill entering the history books on several occasions. She became the first female at The Citadel to qualify for an NCAA Championship event, throwing a mark of 47-9 in the shot put. McNeill won her flight in the event at the NCAA regional meet with a throw of 46-10 1/4, finishing 15th overall. The team finished sixth at the conference outdoor championships with 48 team points.

McNeill won the conference title in the discus with a throw of 141-2, making her the first female Cadet to win a SoCon crown. Those accomplishments, along with regional and national media exposure, came in a season which saw 22 school records broken, 19 athletes receive all-conference honors, three named SoCon Athlete of the Week and two conference champions.

Moreover, McNeill was named the SoCon’s Outstanding Field Performer, and Shaquill Smith was tabbed as the league’s freshman of the year after he won the high jump and placed fifth in the triple jump, setting a new freshman school record with a mark of 47-4.25.

In 1997 Huddleston coached the first female runner at The Citadel as Mandy Garcia was a member of the cross country and track teams. Two years later, Peaches Hudson took second in the heptathlon and captured the institution’s first female All-Southern Conference honor.

Huddleston came to The Citadel in the spring of 1986 from Oklahoma Baptist where he served as head coach for seven years and earned NAIA District IX Coach of the Year honors in 1984. That season the Bison finished second at the league championships, the best track performance for the school in over a decade.

An All-American decathlete at Florida Community College, Huddleston set a new national junior college decathlon long jump record in 1975. He transferred to South Alabama and went on to establish two school records. He graduated from South Alabama in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and earned a master’s degree in education two years later at the same institution.

Huddleston is the father of Ryan, Callie and Mary Kathryn. Mary Kathryn is the daughter of Huddleston and his wife, Mary Ellen.