Coach John Sparks is entering his seventh year at CIU in the fall of 2024. In the past six years at CIU the rams track and field throws group has become one the leading event groups in the NCCAA and the AAC. 14 additional school throws records were broken during the 2024 indoor and outdoor seasons. There have been more than 60 CIU throws school records broken since the fall of 2018. CIU Rams Throwers have had quite a number of AAC All-Conference, NCCAA All-American and NAIA All-American athletes.
Since the fall of 2018 the Rams throwers have earned 16 AAC indoor All-Conference honors and 27 AAC outdoor All-Conference honors. During that time CIU throwers won 20 AAC conference championship events. Those events include indoor shot put, indoor weight throw, outdoor shot put, discus, javelin and hammer. The CIU conference champion athletes include Britney Brown, Anaya Canty, Kate Barbee, Deandre Leith, Kloey Pickens Dazanni Hinton and Zay Hinton. Once again, this past year every CIU thrower qualified for the AAC indoor and, or outdoor conference meets.
The CIU Rams have had 20 different throwers compete at the NCCAA indoor or outdoor national track and field meets over the past six years. These throwers have had success at the NCCAA level, earning NCCAA All-American honors 21 times in indoor and outdoor national track and field competitions. The CIU throwers have claimed 9 national NCCAA titles in the indoor shot put, indoor weight throw, outdoor shot put, and discus. Kloey Pickens and Dazanni Hinton have earned one NCCAA national title and Deandre Leith has earned a total of seven NCCAA national titles.
CIU throwers have also had success at NAIA national competitions including winning 6 NAIA All-American honors. Deandre Leith earned All-American status in the indoor shot put, outdoor shot put (twice) and discus (3 times). In 2024 Deandre Leith became the first CIU throws athlete to win an NAIA National title. Leith won the 2024 NAIA Outdoor Men’s Shot Put Championship throwing the shot 18.09 meters. This is the first time a CIU track and field athlete has won an NAIA outdoor track and field national title.
Prior to coming to CIU Coach Sparks spent three years as an assistant track & field coach at Limestone College in Gaffney, SC. In his three years at Limestone Sparks worked with the men’s and women’s throwers. Under his leadership the Saints throwers broke 36 school records in five different events including the indoor shot put, indoor weight throw, outdoor shot put, discus and hammer throw.
During his three years at Limestone Sparks coached athletes who were named NCAA D2 All-Southeast Region in Track & Field 12 different times. Four of the Limestone men, Devin Parker, Anthony Friday, Mark Livingston and Jahdiyah Wattley earned All-Region honors multiple times during the past three years. At the 2018 indoor conference championship meet Parker broke the Conference Carolinas record in the indoor weight throw 5 times.
During Sparks’ first indoor season with Limestone the Saints won the men’s indoor Conference Carolinas championship. In Sparks tenure with the Saints the men’s track team finished no lower than runner-up in all indoor and outdoor Conference Carolinas championship meets.
Prior to his time at Limestone, Sparks was an assistant coach at Spartanburg Methodist College. Sparks worked with the throwers at SMC and was in charge of the strength and conditioning program for the men’s and women’s cross country and track & field teams. Sparks stint at SMC followed a successful career as an educator, administrator and high school coach.
Prior to his time at SMC, Sparks was named the 2013 South Carolina Region I-AA Track & Field Coach of the Year while at Landrum High School. He has coached multiple sports including basketball, football, golf, and power lifting over the past 20+ years in addition to a distinguished 25+ year teaching career. He served as a strength & conditioning coach for seventeen years. Sparks has also been an athletic director and an assistant high school principal.
In 2004 Sparks was named National Football Coach of the Year by the National Association of Christian Athletes. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education from Clearwater Christian College. Sparks and his wife Serena, a teacher at Northside Christian Academy in Lexington, SC have four adult children and ten grandchildren.
