Greg Stringer is in his second year coaching horizontal jumps as Assistant Track and Field Coach at Auburn.
In his first season on the Plains, Stringer oversaw three athletes that qualified for NCAA Outdoors Preliminaries as Dominique Bullock competed in the long jump and Jakayla Hand and Deja Hillman competed in the triple jump. Hand saw an improvement of three feet in the triple jump from the previous season, going from 40’5 to 43.’25. On the men’s side, Mark Rubacaba also qualified for NCAA Outdoor prelims and finished 13th in the long jump.
Stringer came to Auburn in 2016 from Ole Miss where his work with Ricky Robertson paid great dividends for the Rebels. In his illustrious Ole Miss career, Robertson was a seven-time All-American and seven-time SEC champion in the high jump. He’s the second SEC athlete ever to achieve four straight conference indoor high jump titles and to boast seven total league high jump crowns. Three times he finished runner-up at the NCAA Championships, including both the indoor and outdoor championships as a sophomore in 2011.
Robertson soared to a mark of 7-7.25 at the 2012 Florida Relays to break his own school record and claim the best jump in the world for much of the 2012 season. He competed internationally at the 2010 NACAC U-23 Championships, winning silver in the high jump. Another high jumper, Brian Knight, was a 2010 All-American.
In 2015, Adam Aguirre and Branden Greene qualified for nationals in the high jump while Brittany Kelly was the only Ole Miss freshman to qualify in the heptathlon.
The Rebel long and triple jumpers have had success under Stringer, as well. Rachel Jenkins was crowned SEC outdoor champion in the women’s long jump in 2012 and was the SEC indoor runner-up in 2010. Caleb Lee earned All-America status in the long jump three times in his career, while Morris Kersh and Phillip Young both earned All-America status in the triple jump.
Multi-event competitors Fabia McDonald and Mary Ashton Nall have flourished under Stringer’s tutelage. Nall had a breakout season in 2013, making the NCAA Outdoor Championships and being tabbed a USTFCCCA All-American in the heptathlon. In 2012, McDonald was runner-up in the SEC outdoor heptathlon. She competed at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships and was named an Indoor All-American in the pentathlon.
Both McDonald and Nall were heptathlon participants in the 2011 USA Junior Championships, and McDonald was tabbed the 2011 SEC Indoor Freshman Field Athlete of the Year after a school-record performance in the pentathlon.
Stringer enjoyed immediate success during his first season at Ole Miss as he coached an SEC champion in 2009. Jumper Wale Odetunde won the triple jump at the SEC Outdoor Championships and became the first Rebel since 1992 to accomplish that feat. Odetunde was named to the All-SEC first team before going on to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Stringer came to Ole Miss after a 10-year stint at Southern Mississippi, where he worked primarily with the Golden Eagle jumpers.
Under Stringer’s tutelage in 2008, Southern Miss jumper Ashley May competed in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in both the long jump and triple jump. In addition, May was named All-Region in both events as she turned in fifth-place finishes. Along the way, May set a new school record in the triple jump and placed third at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships. She also took second in the long jump in at the C-USA Indoor Championships with an NCAA provisional mark.
Stringer consistently had performers provide ample scoring for the Golden Eagles in the jumps. In 2006, he produced the Conference USA long jump title winner in Tanika Liburd. His triple jumpers finished second (Simona Costache) and seventh (Aaliyah Shareef) in the C-USA meet. His men’s performers scored a total of 11 points in the C-USA meet.
In 2005, he had two performers win Conference USA titles in the women’s triple jump (Aaliyah Shareef) and high jump (Krista Miller). Tanika Liburd finished second in the long jump. Liburd recorded an outstanding jump of 21-08.75 at the LSU meet, ranking her in the NCAA top five. In 2004, two performers won Conference USA titles in the men’s high jump and the women’s long jump, with other jumpers scoring points in the men’s long jump and triple jump. His Lady Eagles scored additional points in the high jump and triple jump.
Over his last four seasons at Southern Miss, he had 19 athletes qualify for the regional meet, with high jumper Cedric Norman winning the regional competition and finishing third in the national meet in 2003 and in 2004. Norman finished third at the regional meet and finished in a tie for ninth at the national meet. That same season, Norman recorded a personal-best jump of 7-06.00, ranking as the best jump in the world for several weeks.
In 2005, Krista Miller finished first at the regional meet in the high jump, advancing to the national meet. She recorded a personal best and school record jump of 5-11.25. Miller was a three-time regional qualifier. High jumper Kate Juedes received all-regional honors after tying for seventh in 2003.
Stringer was a two-year letterwinner for Marshall Bell at Southern Miss as a junior and senior in both indoor and outdoor track during the 1993 and 1994 seasons. He competed in the high jump, long jump and the decathlon. He took fifth place in the decathlon at the Metro Championships in 1993, helping the Eagles win their second straight Metro Conference title. Stringer followed that Metro performance with a sixth-place finish in the 1994 championships.
During his junior college days, Stringer helped his team, Hinds Community College, to the Mississippi Junior College state championship in 1990 and 1991. While competing at Hinds, he was named the most valuable athlete in the field events in 1991.
Stringer was a four-year letterman in track for Coach Frank Keenum at Terry High School. He was named the most valuable athlete in the field events for two consecutive years. He also lettered three years in basketball and was voted the best defensive player in the 1988-89 season.
He received his undergraduate degree in 1995 in sport administration and coaching with an emphasis in biological science from Southern Miss. He received his master’s degree in education administration in 1999 at Southern Miss.
He is married to the former Angela Mickey of New Orleans, La. The couple has five children, Endia, Gregory, Erin Alexis, Gabrielle Elise and Charlee Grace.