Coach J.C. Cayton (originally from Lawrence, Kansas) is in his 13th season at Emporia State University (ESU) as Head Tennis Coach for both Hornet Men’s and Women’s Tennis Programs.  For the Women’s Tennis program, his overall dual match record stands at 146-69, as the ESU Women’s Tennis Team finished with winning records in each of his first ten seasons. During the fall of 2006, Cayton coached the women’s the women’s entries to a 1st place finishes in both the singles and doubles tournaments at the ITA Central Region Tournament.  In the Spring of 2007, the ESU Women’s Tennis team won the MIAA Conference Tournament Championship, won their NCAA Regional, and subsequently reached the Sweet 16 of the 2007 NCAA D2 National Tournament. He garnered recognition as the 2007 ITA Regional Coach of the Year, and the 2007 USPTA Missouri Valley Division College Coach of the Year. Coach Cayton showed balanced attack when he led both the men’s and women’s tennis teams to the NCAA D2 National Tournament in 2007, which is the first time in school history that both squads have qualified in the same season for this event, and repeated that achievement in 2008. 

The year prior to his arrival, the men’s program suffered a 1-14 record. Coach Cayton’s new recruits made that record improve to 11-7 by his second year.  His overall men’s dual match record is now above .500 and currently stands at 98-94.  JC led the ESU Men's Tennis teams qualified for the NCAA D2 National Tournament for the first time in school history in 2007 and 2008. Four different men's players named as MIAA Sportsmanship Award winners during his tenure at ESU.

The Lady Hornet tennis team has also held the highest overall team GPA at ESU in 14 of the 28 semesters that he has been their head coach.  Coach Cayton has had 14 women's players and 8 named as MIAA All Scholar-Athletes, and both teams regularly boast over a 3.50 team GPA's each semester. The women’s team has had two different female tennis players and four different male players named MIAA Sportsmanship Awardee during his tenure. It is notable that in Spring 2015 season, both the men's and women's MIAA Conference Sportsmanship Awards went to Emporia State Tennis players. Both ESU Tennis teams regularly complete over 50 hours of community service each year, helping with important project such as Habitat for Humanity, Food 4 Students, United Way, and Camp Alexander for Youth.
  
Prior to his arrival at Emporia State, Cayton guided (NAIA) Bethel (KS) College Women's Tennis program to a KCAC Conference championship in 2004. His career in tennis includes nine years working for the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), and teaching tennis is every various settings: club, resort, and public park. John has been certified by the U.S. Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) as an Elite Professional for 25 years. John's collegiate playing background includes being named all-conference team and playing #1 singles and #1 doubles for the ESU Hornets. Moreover, Cayton’s coaching philosophy centers around establishing a successful team environment by empowering each individual student-athlete with responsibility goals for improvement both on and off the tennis courts, while preparing for their bright futures ahead. Coach JC Cayton and his wife of 26 years Julie (who works at Emporia State in student support services) have three children, the older two of whom are current students here at Emporia State University.