Hunter Miniard joined the Maryville Track and Field staff as an assistant coach in August 2022.
Miniard is a sprints and hurdles specialist from Maryville who joined the program after serving as the head track and field coach at nearby Seymour High School. When he was selected in February 2021, Miniard at 22 years old was the youngest track and field head coach in Seymour Track and Field program history.
Over his two spring seasons at Seymour, Miniard coached four athletes who won a combined six state championship medals and also coached a school record 4x400-meter women's relay team. He doubled the size of the Seymour team in his first year, and every athlete on each team hit a personal best in at least one event.
“We are excited to add Hunter to the Maryville College track and field staff,” Lawson said. “His knowledge of the sprints and hurdles, in addition to his knowledge of the local area, brings instant value to our program and the college.
“I'm looking forward to watching and helping him develop our student-athletes.”
Miniard was a two-time NAIA All-American in 2018 for the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. He was a member of the fifth-place Indoor distance medley relay team, and then part of the Outdoor 4x400-meter relay unit that placed eighth at nationals. He earned All-Mid-South Conference Academic honors that same year in both track and field and football.
He was a two-time recorder-holder and seven-time national qualifier in the 400-meter hurdles and 4x400-meter relay for the Patriots. During his senior year of high school, Miniard was a 2016 state champion in the 300-meter hurdles after a record-setting performance.
Miniard transferred to the University of Memphis for the fall 2018 semester and participated in track and field for the Tigers. He graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology in May 2020.
“I feel grateful and blessed to be named the assistant track and field coach at Maryville College,” Miniard said. “I am ready to get to work and help Coach Lawson set this program in the right direction. I am confident that under his direction, Maryville College Track and Field can see success early and often.
“I would like to thank Coach Jon Hutchins, my former high school coach; and Coach Shareese Hicks, my former college coach, for being more than just coaches but mentors to me as well. I strive to take what they taught me and pass it on to my future athletes. I was born and raised just outside of the Maryville area; therefore, MC will feel like home to me. I aim to give back to the sport of track and field what it has given to me.”
