Bulldogs Add Three To T&F Coaching Staff

ATHENS, Ga. --- Georgia has added a trio of talented coaches to the staff, according to Director of Track & Field Caryl Smith Gilbert.

Kyle Stevenson will be an assistant for sprints; Maggie Davis will be a distance assistant and an assistant meet director; and Melia Cox will be an assistant coach for sprints and hurdles and the Bulldogs' Director of External Operations.

The aforementioned three coaches will join a program that had immense talent in 2025.  Last year, the Georgia women won the program's first NCAA outdoor team title and UGA's third Southeastern Conference outdoor championship after taking second at the 2025 NCAA Indoor Championships.  The Bulldog men also finished as the national indoor runner-up last year and were second at the 2025 SEC Outdoor Championships.

Kyle Stevenson: Stevenson was added in July 2025 after serving as Mississippi State's Director of Track & Field Operations during the preceding year.

A former All-American, Southeastern Conference champion and graduate of the University of Tennessee, Stevenson brings a wealth of track and field knowledge as well as an awareness of the state to Athens.  Prior to his time in Starkville, Stevenson served as Georgia State University's head coach from 2020-24 and was an assistant with the program from 2017-20.

The Panthers made considerable strides during Stevenson's time in Atlanta, including breaking more than 25 school records.  Stevenson's squad won a pair of Sun Belt Conference crowns and secured eight more top three individual performances at the league meet over a six-year period.  In addition, his program had a perfect 1,000 APR score, had the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA)  highest cross country team GPA nationally in 2021 and boasted more than 100 academic honor roll awards.

Prior to coaching at Georgia State, Stevenson had successful stints at both Saint Martin's University (2015-17) and East Tennessee State University (2014-15).  While at Saint Martin's in Washington state, Stevenson helped produce Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) indoor and outdoor record holders as the program piled up 17 school records in the sprints and jumps during his tenure.  Thanks to having the 2016 NCAA Division II outdoor high jump champion as well as the 2017 indoor champion, Stevenson helped deliver the school its first national titles in history in any sport and produced a runner-up finish at the NCAA Division II 2016 indoor meet.  Saint Martin's won the 2016 and 2017 GNAC indoor championships while featuring the 2017 USTFCCCA Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.

Stevenson's first collegiate position was with East Tennessee State where he helped the men and women take third at the 2014 Southern Conference (SoCon) Outdoor Championships.  The Buccaneers, whose women were also third indoors in 2014, set indoor and outdoor conference records in the hurdles and had seven student-athletes named to the 2014 all-conference squad.

The first two coaching stops of Stevenson were at the high school level in Tennessee.  Hardin Valley HS won the 2012 TSSAA girls state title under the direction of Stevenson and Austin East HS made its first state meet appearance in five years after his arrival.  Stevenson also guided the 4x100-meter relay team to fourth place honors at the 2011 TSSAA meet at Austin East.

A Memphis, Tenn., native, Stevenson earned his bachelor's degree in Sport Management and Business Administration (2010) at Tennessee before graduating with a Master's degree in Sport Psych and Motor Behavior (2011).  The former walk-on was a two-time All-American for the Volunteers who ran a leg on the 2007 SEC champion 4x100m relay team en route to Tennessee collecting the team title.  Stevenson, who was a seven-time SEC scorer in four different events, finished his career with personal bests of 6.68 in the 60m, 10.29 in the 100m and 20.76 in the 200m while the fastest 4x100m relay he was a part of clocked a 38.88.  While in Knoxville, Stevenson crossed paths with Smith Gilbert, who was a Tennessee assistant from 2003-07.

Maggie Davis: Maggie Davis joined the Bulldog program during the 2025 summer.  Davis arrived in Athens after coaching at Black Hill State University in South Dakota for two years.

Davis brought in the top freshman distance class in Yellow Jacket School history for the 2024 fall cross country season.  The BHSU men also posted their best finish in school history at the 2018 NCAA Division II South Central Regional, taking sixth and having an All-Region performer.

The Mount Vernon, Iowa, native led the 400 meters/400m hurdles/800m groups, coaching them to multiple top 10 all-time marks in those events and in the 4x400m relay.  Under Davis' tutelage, Braden Anderson (men's 800m) was a three-time bronze medal finish at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Championships, set indoor and outdoor school records in the 800m and qualified for the 2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships.

Prior to her days at BHSU, Davis was a volunteer cross and track assistant coach at her alma mater, Iowa State, from July 2022 to July 2023.  In addition, she is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS).

Davis graduated from ISU in the spring 2022 with a bachelor's and master's degree in Dietetics & Exercise Science where she was a middle-distance runner for the Cyclones.  During her five years, she was named Academic All-Big 12 First Team five times and was nine times named to the Commissioner's Honor Roll.  Davis also served as a strength and conditioning intern with the wrestling, swimming and diving and football programs during her undergrad years in 2017 and 2018.  She was heavily involved in FCA as well.
Between her internship stints at Iowa State, she was a strength and conditioning intern at North Dakota State in the summer of 2019 and with Northwest Missouri State in the summer of 2018 as well.

Melia Cox: Melia Cox was hired during the 2025 summer.

A Long Beach, Calif., native, Cox spent the 2024-25 academic year at Cal State Fullerton where she also coached the sprinters and hurdlers.  Under her tutelage, the Titans went 1-2-3 in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2025 Big West Championships.  Cox guided Abel Jordan (native of Spain) to under-23 records in both the 60m (6.54) and 60m hurdles (7.53).  Jordan advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 60mH, making him the first Cal State Fullerton hurdler to accomplish the feat.  In addition, Cox coached Joshua Hornsby to a trip to the 2025 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 110m hurdles, also a first for the Titans.

Cox, who was a 2016 Olympic Trials competitor, competed for USC's track and field teams from 2011-15 where she competed at three separate NCAA Championships, earning All-American honors in the triple jump, 100m hurdles and 4x100m relay. Smith Gilbert coached Cox from 2013-16 in L.A. The 11-time Pac-12/MPSF scorer also captured the 2014 Pac-12 outdoor triple jump crown.

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