Bob Stoner arrived on Lander's campus in the fall of 1988 and has been a fixture in the athletic department ever since. He came to Lander as the the Assistant Public Relations Director and in 1995 became Lander's first full-time Sports Information Director.
Stoner, a 1980 graduate of Western Kentucky University, where he earned bachelor's degrees in Journalism and Spanish, also coached the Lander men's and women's cross country team for 19 years until the sport was discontinued in 2008. During that time, he was named Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year three times (1992, 1993 and 2004) and the NAIA Area 7 Coach of the Year in 1990.
While at WKU, where he was on the sports staff of the award-winning College Heights Herald, Stoner was a four-time qualifier of the Boston Marathon as a member of WKU's cross country team. After graduating from WKU, he served as the sports editor of the Middlesboro Daily News, Middlesboro, Ky. (1980-82); a sports writer at the Kingsport Times-News, Kingsport, Tenn. (1982-85); and sports editor of the Aiken Standard, Aiken, S.C. (1985-88).
During his career as a sports journalist, Stoner covered such events as The Masters, the Heritage Classic, the Greater Greensboro Open, the Kentucky Derby, the Gator Bowl, the Citrus Bowl, and the 1987 Olympic Sports Festival in addition to his duties as a local beat writer and columnist.
He was honored once by the Kentucky Press Association for photography and twice by the South Carolina Press Association as a sports columnist.
Stoner served as the venue photography manager for team handball and weight lifting at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Stoner has one son, Ian, who is a cook at Olive Garden in Sevierville, Tenn.
