Pettyjohn is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Women's Track and Field and Cross Country teams.
In his third season with the WildCats, he helped coach Kiersten Alling and Jessica Taylor to ODAC Second Team honors and VaSIDÂ Second Team All-State. Alling was also an USTFCCCA All-Region selection in both the discus and hammer throw
Pettyjohn re-entered the collegiate coaching ranks after four successful years as the head girls track and field coach at Jefferson Forest High School in Forest, Va. While there, his teams were twice the 4A Virginia state team runners-up. The Cavaliers won two state pole vault championships during his tenure, and the team won the Adidas Pentathlon National Girls Championship in 2022. Pettyjohn was named the 2022 Seminole District Girls Coach of the Year with the Virginia High School League (VHSL).
Collegiately, Pettyjohn served as the head track and field / cross country coach at Charleston Southern (S.C.) University for three seasons and was named 2001 Big South Conference Coach of the Year in his final campaign with the Buccaneers. From 2001-04 he served as the assistant coach at his alma mater, Liberty University. His collegiate coaching career began as an assistant coach at Campbell (N.C.) University. While at Liberty, Pettyjohn coached a 2004 United States Track and Field Championships third place finish in the women's pole vault and NCAA women's pole vault runner up in 2003.
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Pettyjohn was a 1993 NCAA Division I decathlon All-America finisher at Liberty, setting a then-meet record in the pole vault. He is a three-time IC4A Champion and 2019 Chattanooga Ironman Finisher.
