Jayson N. Gardner is entering his fourth year with Livingstone College as the Assistant Track & Field Distance coach. Truth Mattison became his first All CIAA Conference athlete in the 5000 meters.
As a head coach with West Mecklenburg high from 1998-2005, he coached a 4A state champ in the shot put, All-State 300m hurdler, NCHSA 4A State champions in the girls 4 x100 and 4 x200 relay.
Jayson became the Assistant Track Coach of jumps for Providence Day School. In 2008 he coached a North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association (NCISAA) state champion in the triple jump. In 2009 the team won the NCISAA boys team state championship. From there Coach Gardner became the jumps coach for Wofford College for two years.
To improve his coaching knowledge, he earned a USATF Level 1 certification. Coach Gardner has a BA in Social Studies Education from Kentucky State University and taught History with West Mecklenburg high for ten years. He earned a Master of Education with UNC Charlotte in 2003 and earned a Master of Arts with Winthrop University in 2022 and teaches African American Studies at Livingstone College. He is very proud of his twenty-five-year teaching career.
Jayson was born and raised in Topeka, Kansas attending Highland Park high school. He was an All-state triple and long jumper. In 1989 he won the Kansas high school 5A state championship in the triple jump. He had the second longest long jump mark in the state in 1990. In 1992, while attending Barton County CC, he became a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Indoor All-American in the Triple Jump. Jayson while at Kentucky State University, in 1994 he was a participant in the NCAA Div 2 Indoor National Championships in the triple jump.
Jayson is married to Tracie an alumnus of the University of North Carolina. They have a middle school-age daughter.
