After more than twenty years track and field is returning to LeMoyne-Owen College under new head coach Rochelle Stevens.

Stevens, a two-time Olympic medalist, will be tasked with heading up the men's and women's indoor and outdoor track programs, which are being restarted after being discontinued in 1998.

"I'm looking forward to shaping and molding our student-athletes," Stevens said Thursday. "I have all the secret ingredients that I would love to share and help expose those athletes and let everybody know who we are. You know, I was sitting there and thinking about it. I said, people are going to say, 'Who is that team in that good-looking bus? LeMoyne-Owen, I've never heard of LeMoyne-Owen.' "But once we finish out there, they're going to say, 'Now we know who LeMoyne-Owen College is.'" 

Stevens, a Memphis native who was a star at Melrose before becoming an 11-time NCAA All-American at Morgan State University, won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in the 4x400-meter relay. She also helped the United States capture silver at the 1992 Olympics in the same event.

LeMoyne-Owen conducted a feasibility study over the summer as it considered resurrecting its track and field program. A national coaching search began in early September. She emerged overwhelmingly as the best candidate for us," Anderson said. "Aside from her impeccable credentials and vast experience, (Stevens) communicates very well. She has a dynamic personality with great passion and positivity. The goals she believes she can accomplish here also stood out to me and the (hiring) committee as well. She checked a lot of the boxes we were looking for."

Stevens, 55, is the latest marquee hire by the LeMoyne-Owen athletics department. Earlier this year, Magicians athletics director William Anderson hired former NBA standout Bonzi Wells as the school's men's basketball coach. Earlier this month, Wells added Lionel Hollins (the Memphis Grizzlies' all-time winningest coach) to his staff in a volunteer role.