Former 1992 Olympic marathoner and 1991 World Championships marathon bronze medalist Steve Spence enters his eighth year as the head coach of the men's and women's cross country teams at Shippensburg University in 2005. In addition, he will also serve as an assistant coach with the men's and women's track and field teams after having spent the last seven seasons as the head coach.

Spence made the decision to step down as track and field coach on July 11, 2005 so that he could focus on a prominent cross country country program. As a result, long-time assistant coach and 1996 Shippensburg graduate Dave Osanitsch was promoted to be the head coach of the track and field teams.

RETURNING TO HIS ALMA MATER

A 1985 graduate of Shippensburg with a bachelor of science degree in business administration, Spence made a name for himself as a member of the cross country and track and field teams, where he was a seven-time NCAA Division II All-American. He spent 10 years as a volunteer coach at the University while he was running competitively and was one of the top American road racers. Prior to the 1997 spring season, Spence was promoted to full-time assistant before officially being named as the head coach of both cross country and track and field on October 15, 1997, succeeding Robert Walker.

In his seven seasons as the head coach of both programs, Spence has been named Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Coach of the Year six times. He was named conference coach of the year in men's cross country in 2001, men's indoor track and field in 2003 and 2005, men's outdoor track and field in 2003 and 2004 and in women's outdoor track and field in 2005. He has also been awarded with the NCAA Division II East Regional Men's Track and Field Coach of the Year honors in 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Under Spence's tutelage, Shippensburg has captured three PSAC championships in men's outdoor track and field and one in indoor along with one PSAC and NCAA Division II East Region championship in women's cross country in 1997. The programs have also garnered 10 conference runner-up honors as well, eight in track and field and two in cross country. In 2005, Spence became the first men's track and field coach in conference history to win both the indoor and outdoor championships in the same season.

He has also been instrumental in the development of 28 All-Americans in track and field, 16 women and 12 men, while mentoring two All-Americans in women's cross country.

GOING GLOBAL

Following graduation in 1985, Spence pursued a career as a distance runner where he began by making his mark on the international scene. He made his first top-10 listing in the Runner's World Road Race rankings in 1988 when he finished third at the end of the season behind Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) Hall of Fame members Mark Curp and Jon Sinclair. For the next four years, Runner's World ranked Spence first in 1989 and 1990, second in 1991 and third in 1992.

He won the 1990 Columbus Marathon in his personal record of 2:12.17, qualifying him for the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan. The third-place finish was the first distance medal for the United States in international competition since Frank Shorter in 1976. Earlier in 1991, Spence captured the Olympic Development 10,000 meters at the Penn Relays and in 1992, he won the Olympic Trials Marathon and was a member of the 1992 Olympic team. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, he finished 12th in the men's marathon despite battling the flu, marking yet again, the best US Olympic marathon finish place since Shorter's 1976 run.

Between college and 1993, Spence was a member of four international teams, including the 1991 World Championships, 1992 Olympics, 1989 NYC Ekiden Relay and 1991 Berlin, Germnay Ekiden Relay.

Spence was the recipient of the Robert DeCelle Award, given by USA Track & Field (USATF) to the Outstanding Long Distance Runner in the nation, three consecutive years from 1989-91. He received the USATF Glenn Cunningham Award in 1991 as the Outstanding Runner in the US, 800 meters and up and was the Road Racing Club of America's Road Runner of the Year from 1989-92.

At the end of 1997, Spence officially retired. His contributions to the sport of distance running have been numerous and many consider him to be one of the runners responsible for the re-emergence of distance running in the United States.

MASTER OF HIS CRAFT

Since turning 40, Spence is still competitive and has recorded some outstanding masters performances despite his coaching duties preventing extensive travel for masters competition. In 2003, he set the American Master's national record for five miles with a time of 23:47, breaking the 1988 record held by Bill Rodgers. In September, 2004, at the Jefferson Hospital Philadelphia Distance Run, he won the masters division in 1:06.21, beating Andrew Masai and Abraham Limo, two top-ranked master from Kenya, by more than 30 seconds.

Spence has a pending American Master's record for 10,000 meters on the track, with a time of 30:18.16.

In 2003, Spence was inducted into the NCAA Division II Coaches Association Cross Country Hall of Fame and in the spring of 2005, was voted into the RRCA Hall of Fame along with Keith Brantly.

LEADER OF THE SHIP

Spence is a Central Pennsylvania native from Elizabethtown. He came to Shippensburg University after graduating from Lower Dauphin High School in Hummelstown. As a student-athlete, he earned All-American honors in the 5,000 meters four years in a row in outdoor track and one year in indoor track while also receiving All-America honors twice in cross country.

Spence was PSAC champion in the 1,500 meters in 1982 and 1984, the 5,000 meters in 1982 and 1985 and the 10,000 meters in 1985. Two of his All-America honors in the 5,000 meters, outdoor in 1984 and indoor in 1985, were NCAA Division II national championships. In 1982 and 1985, Spence was voted Outstanding Track Athlete in the conference by the coaches. Currently, he still holds four school records in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters as well as the 1-mile and 2-mile runs while holding the outdoor record in the 5,000 meters.

At Lower Dauphin, Spence won the 1980 Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Athletic Association (PIAA) Class AAA 1,600-meter championship in a then-state record of 4:12. He also won the 1980 PIAA state championship in the mile run with a state record time and was also the 1980 PIAA District 3 championship and record holder for both the 1-mile and 2-mile runs.

Spence is committed to creating individualized training programs in order to help each student-athlete reach their goals and achieve their potential. He and his wife Kirsten have three daughters, Ne'ely, Reynah and Margeaux and one son, Eli. The family lives in Shippensburg.