The night before the championship meet, the North Greenville Track and Field team had their annual senior recognition. After the celebration, head Coach Cameron Stober asked the ladies to stay for a talk. Stober told them they had an opportunity that they’ve never had before — to be the conference runner-up. Stober said he “wanted the entire team to be aware of what was on the line.”
The next morning, they drove from little, old Tigerville to Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium in Myrtle Beach, S.C., to compete. The results? Hannah Hill started her record performance by competing in the heptathlon, taking first in the 100mH, shot put, and 200m and tying for third in the high jump.
Later that night, the long-distance girls racked up points in the 10K, with a second, fourth, sixth, and eighth place finish. The next two days, the distance crew scored points in the 800m, 1500m, and 5K. Notably, Riley Shope took first in the Steeple Chase, making her a conference champion, while her teammates, Zoie Justice and Emma Bright, placed 5th and 6th, adding to the team’s total points. These distance girls were Conference Carolina champions in Cross Country October 2024 for the first time in program history, and their excellence clearly carried into the track season.
Throughout the entirety of the meet, Hill led out in the sprint and field events, competing in a total of 15 events and earning 6 school records. And Hill’s most supportive teammate, best friend and roommate, Katlyn Rose, scored points in the 400mH and achieved her own personal best of 1:09.44.
The team was handed the conference runner-up trophy with North Greenville University written on the front.
NGU’s Women’s Track and Field team poses for a picture. (Screen capture taken from @NGU TF/CC Instagram page).written on the front.
A second-place finish is the highest NGU’s women’s track and field team has placed since its founding in 2011-2012. But NGU’s female runners, jumpers and sprinters haven’t stopped at conference level. Three in the program’s history have made it to the national level: Shekinah Wilder, Millie Knight, and most recently, Hannah Hill.
Wilder, a multiple-time conference champion in the triple jump, was NGU’s first women’s track athlete to compete at an indoor national meet in 2018, followed by Knight, a multiple-time conference champion in the pole vault who competed at the outdoor NCAA DII Track and Field Championship the same year.
And Hill, who holds six school records and is a multiple-time conference champion across several events, became NGU’s third female national level athlete last weekend (May 22-24). Hill competed at the NCAA DII Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Pueblo, Colo., and placed seventh in the heptathlon and was named All-American.
Michael Bayne, NGU Track and Field’s founding coach, said, “We wanted to be big time to start off with.” Bayne said when he started the program, he saw potential in athletes that may have been overlooked by others in the recruiting process. He said some of his recruits ended up moving to DI schools.
The team continues to grow from that foundation laid long ago.
But more than just producing excellent performers, Bayne taught his athletes to set the right priorities. He taught them to put their faith in God first, family second, academics third, track and field fourth, and while committed to the team, their girlfriend/boyfriend fourth.
Coach Stober, a former athlete of Coach Bayne, continues to carry on his coach’s legacy. Stober is in his 11th year of coaching NGU’s men’s and women’s track and field program and continues to teach his athletes the right priorities. But more than telling them the right things, he shows them how to carry themselves.
Hill attested to the program’s impact on her character. She said the biggest impact the program has had on her is that “it’s given me a lot of good role models, especially with coaches.” She said they always supported and believed in her and taught her humility.
She said with all her accomplishments this year, “They taught me how to be humble about it, to just keep going, and to hold myself in a manner that’s not disrespectful toward anyone else.”
At one point in NGU’s track and field history, they didn’t even have their own track to train on. They would load up on a bus and head over to Furman University to train.
Former athlete Kaleigh Roach (2015-2019), said, “I remember my first drive through the country roads of Tigerville as well as my first couple of years without a track facility. I knew something about this place was special and that success was possible, but I never anticipated it to come as soon as it did.” Roach was the former school record holder for the 1500 and mile.
And there is something special about that place. The year 2025 has been a record-setting season for the women Trailblazers, proving that a lot of speed can come out of tiny Tigerville.