Kim Spence '04, is in her ninth year as the Head Men's and Women's Track & Field coach in 2024-25.
In addition, Spence served as the Head Coach for the Men's and Women's Cross Country programs for 10 years and recently concluded her 16th season overall as a coach at Wheaton.
During her coaching stint with the Lyons' track & field program, the women's team has qualified to compete in each of the last seven of the last eight seasons that the NCAA has sponsored an Outdoor Championship in addition to having at least one student-athlete compete in the 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships. Spence has coached five All-Americans, including the 2017 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Athlete of the Year, Emily Gustavson. Under Spence's guidance, 56 student-athletes have earned NEWMAC All-Conference honors and the women's team has placed third at the Conference Championship in two of the last four title meets.
In 2016, Wheaton sent representatives to both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships in events such as the 100, 200 and 400-meter dash, 4x100-meter relay and 3,000-meter steeplechase, all under Spence's tutelage.
A USA Track & Field (USATF) Level I certified coach, Spence also served as a Wheaton Track & Field Assistant Coach for five years, including the four prior to her being elevated to Head Coach and one during the 2004-05 campaign. She has also worked with the track & field program at Mansfield High School since the spring of 2005 and recently earned her Endurance Specialist Certification and Strength & Conditioning Certification, from the USTFCCCA Track & Field Academy.
As a four-year member of the indoor and outdoor track & field teams at Wheaton, and a cross country runner her senior year, Spence helped the Lyons win six NCAA track & field championships. A two-year Captain for each track & field squad, she earned All-America honors in the indoor 4x400-meter relay and the outdoor 3,000-meter steeplechase as a senior after drawing honors as a sophomore for the indoor 800-meter run. Spence qualified seven times for New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) All-Conference honors. In cross country, she was an All-Region and All-Conference runner during her lone season of competition.
A four-time Academic All-Conference honoree, including three times in track & field. Spence earned Dean's List citations and a Wheaton Scholar-Athlete award in addition to being named a Wheaton Balfour Scholar. She also received the college's Claudia Friese Special Recognition Award her senior year, due largely in part to her behind-the-scenes dedication to the program and her spearheading all of the track & field teams' fundraising efforts.
Spence graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wheaton in 2004 after majoring in American history and minoring in both Art History and Studio Art. Spence went on to receive her master's degree in Education with a concentration in Curriculum and Design from Fitchburg State University.
