Steven Blocker was selected in 2011 to succeed Dave Harris as the head coach of the Hornet track and field programs and now enters his 11th season for the Hornets.
Blocker previously served as an assistant with the Hornets since 2009 working primarily with the sprinters, jumpers and multi-event athletes. In his 11 years at ESU, Blocker has produced 82 All-Americans, broken 27 school records, and coached 29 MIAA Conference Champions.
The Hornet men placed 4th in the nation at the 2011 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships after earning a 5th place showing indoors. In 2017, the men's program was runner-up at the MIAA Indoor Championships and finished 15th at the NCAA Divison II Indoor Championships. That succeeding outdoor season Blocker led the men's team to a tie for 3rd at the MIAA Outdoor Championships.
Blocker was the first head coach at Culver-Stockton after the program was reinstituted in 2007 after a 30 year absence. In two seasons, Blocker produced 8 Heart of America Athletic Conference champions. In addition, 17 individuals and three relays claimed all-conference honors.
At the national level, Blocker produced five NAIA All-America performers for the Wildcats. Fourteen individuals, including the first female in 2009, and one relay qualified for the NAIA Indoor and Outdoor championships during his reign.
Blocker spent the 2006-07 season as an assistant coach at Santa Barbara City College in Santa Barbara, Calif. He was in charge of designing and implementing the sprint, hurdle and jump training programs as well as the strength training programs for all events at SBCC.
Blocker’s first coaching stop was at his alma mater, the University of Northern Iowa, where he served as a volunteer assistant while earning his master’s degree. While at Northern Iowa, Blocker helped develop the 60m hurdle school record-holder and two All-Missouri Valley Conference 60m hurdlers. The Panthers also won the men’s indoor conference championship three times and the outdoor championship once.
As a student-athlete at UNI, Blocker was a member of three Missouri Valley Conference championship teams. He was a regional qualifier in the 110m hurdles in 2003 and named all-MVC in the 60m hurdles in 2002. He left UNI ranked fourth on the all-time performance list in the 110m hurdles and third in the 60m hurdles. Blocker spent his first two years at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, where he was an NAIA outdoor regional qualifier and placed 12th in the 55m hurdles at the NAIA Indoor Nationals in 2000.
Blocker obtained his bachelor’s degree in physical education from the University of Northern Iowa in 2003 and his master’s degree in physical education in 2006. He is married to the former Erin Wessely, who is an assistant pole vault coach with the Hornet track program and the couple has one son, Matthew.
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