California University of Pennsylvania

A former runner for the Vulcans, Sandy Estep enters her 11th season as an assistant coach at California (PA) working with sprints, hurdles and relays.

Estep has developed some of the fastest sprinters in school, PSAC and NCAA Division II history while with the Vulcans. She has mentored a combined 24 individual league champions and 53 All-PSAC individual honorees, plus five championship relays, since joining the coaching staff in November of 2015.

A native of Virginia, Estep proved instrumental in the development of two-time National Champion Divonne Franklin. She closed her career as one of the most decorated student-athletes in all of school history, as she was an eight-time All-American and 15-time PSAC Champion. A two-time Academic All-American, Franklin set the fastest time in NCAA Division II history regardless of conditions in the finals of 100 meters at the 2023 NCAA Championships. The Philadelphia native shattered the all-time league and championship record in four events as a senior and set a combined seven school records. Franklin was chosen as the USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year and PSAC Track Athlete of the Year during both the indoor and outdoor campaigns as both a junior and senior. Additionally, she was voted the PSAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year and named a national Top 30 honoree for the prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year Award in 2023.

Estep also mentored one of the fastest men’s sprinters in school history in Jae’Len Means. He closed his career as an eight-time PSAC Champion in individual events and received All-PSAC honors a combined 17 times (13 individual). Means completed a three-peat in the 200 meters at the indoor championships from 2017-19 and set indoor school record in the event when he finished fifth at the 2019 NCAA Championships. The Monroeville native also set outdoor school records in the 100 and 200 meters as a senior when he repeated as the league champion in both events.

In both 2020 and 2023, Estep was honored as the USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Women’s Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year. The Vulcans placed fourth at the PSAC Championships in both seasons, while also finishing a program-best second place in 2022.

Estep has worked with a pair of PSAC Champion hurdlers in recent years. Jalessa Mackey became the first women’s league champion in the 100 hurdles in over two decades in 2021. Kailee Bunyard then swept the 60 and 100 hurdles the following year and reset the indoor school record in the 60 hurdles in 2024.

The Vulcans recently won a relay title at the league championships in three-consecutive years with the women’s 4x400 relay claiming conference titles at the 2020 indoor meet and the 2022 outdoor event. On the men’s side, Cal captured a league crown at back-to-back outdoor championships in 2016 and 2017.

While a student at Cal, Estep competed on the cross country and track & field teams from 2008-13 and also served as a graduate assistant for the program during 2013-14 academic year.

In track & field, Estep was a nine-time individual qualifier for the PSAC Championships and set three school records as part of relay teams. As a sophomore, Estep helped the 4x400 relay claim the first women’s relay league title since 1985 and qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Estep received USTFCCCA All-Academic honors for track & field three times in her career and earned D2ADA Academic Achievement Award status as a senior. She also garnered PSAC Scholar-Athlete laurels five times in her collegiate career and was a 10-time member of the Cal U AD Honor Roll.

She earned her undergraduate degree in sport management with a concentration in wellness and fitness in 2012. The following year, she completed her master’s degree in exercise science and health promotion with an emphasis in performance enhancement and injury prevention. Estep also earned a post-master’s certificate in sport psychology from Cal in 2014.

Estep and her husband Brady, an assistant coach for the Vulcans, reside in California with their son Kai.