Vahrenkamp has been at the helm of the Royals track and field and cross country programs since the 2012-13 season.
The Queens men's and women's track & field and cross country programs have emerged as powerhouses in the southeast region and the 2018-19 season proved to be one of the best for the Royals who now have a combined total of 13 cross country conference championships, 10 cross country regional championships, 12 indoor and outdoor conference championships, and nine individual national championships. Additionally, the Royals have appeared in at least one of the NCAA Championships each of Vahrenkamp's seven years at the helm.
This season, the Royals started the year grabbing SAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country titles and NCAA DII Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Southeast Regional titles before the men finished 9th and the women finished 10th at the NCAA Championships. One runner, Anthony Raftis, earned all-American honors at the Championships.
Queens then swept the SAC Men’s and Women’s Indoor Track & Field Championships where Elise Ulseth and Stefan Jungmichel were named Male and Female Freshman of the Year and Hanna Wolkenhauer earned Female Track Athlete of the Meet. Additionally, the Royals saw four new school event records set and a record setting 28 athletes recognized on the all-region team across 44 events. Vahrenkamp also earned his ninth Southeast Region Head Coach of the Year honor after being named SAC Coach of the Year on the men’s and women’s side for the indoor season. At the national championship, three Royals earned all-American status while Felix Wammetsberger won the men’s mile individual championship. As a team, Queens ranked 13th overall on the men’s side which was the highest finish in program history.
During the 2019 outdoor season, the Royals saw nine new program event records set and 20 earn all-region honors across 37 events. Additionally, Ulseth and Ricko Meckes were named USTFCCCA Southeast Region Field Athletes of the Year. It was the second straight year that Meckes had earned the honor who also earned USTFCCCA National Field Athlete of the Week after opening the outdoor season with a javelin toss of 74.25m (243-7¼) at the Charlotte 49er Open. His mark set a new school record and ranked Meckes as the sixth-best all-time performer in the event in NCAA DII history.
Queens’ men repeated as SAC Outdoor Track & Field Champions and Vahrenkamp earned men's coach of the year honors for the fourth straight year while Ulseth and Jungmichel repeated as freshmen of the year. Additionally, Martin Knauer earned SAC Outdoor Field Athlete of the Meet honors. Seven Royals advanced to the national championships where the men finished 14th and Meckes won the men’s javelin individual championship.
At the close of the season, Queens’ men ranked third in the USTFCCCA Men’s Program of the Year Standings. The group had also collected its second straight triple crown, winning the SAC cross country, indoor, and outdoor championships.
Queens Highlights
Prior to leading Felix Wammetsberger (2019 Indoor Mile) and Ricko Meckes (2019 Javelin Throw) to the first men’s national individual national championships in his tenure at Queens, Vahrenkamp coached Nikia Squire to a pair of NCAA DII National Championship titles. Squire won the 2016 indoor 60-meter championship and outdoor long jump championship setting new school records in both events that still hold today. Her appearance at the USATF championships was a first in program history and she graduated from Queens a seven-time all-American.
Additionally, Vahrenkamp has earned Southeast Region Coach of the Year honors nine times and South Atlantic Coach of the Year honors 10 times. Additionally, through his leadership the Royals have earned 39 All-American honors.
Coaching Before Queens
Prior to Queens, Vahrenkamp spent three season with the Augustana College Vikings in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. At Augustana, Vahrenkamp’s core responsibilities involved recruiting for both the men’s and women’s programs, assisting in budgeting and fundraising, monitoring academic success plans for both programs and assisting in meet administration at home events. As an assistant he was also in charge of coaching jumps, sprints, hurdles, and multi-events with the track and field teams.
While with the Vikings, Vahrenkamp had the opportunity to coach Adou Omot, the 2011 NCAA Division II 800 meter indoor and outdoor champion. At the close of the 2011 spring season the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named Vahrenkamp the Central Region Assistant Coach of the Year for his efforts in just his second complete season with the Vikings.
Augustana’s most recent success came in the 2011 cross country season when the women were able capture the NCAA National Title. In 2010 the Viking men finished sixth, their highest finish ever in school history, while the women took seventh. In track the Viking women won the indoor Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championship for the first time in school history before winning the outdoor title for the first time in 2011.
Prior to joining Augustana’s staff, Vahrenkamp was an assistant track and field coach for one year at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. While at Emory, Vahrenkamp coached throws, pole vault, high jump and multi-event athletes for both the indoor and outdoor teams. The Eagles snagged their first University Athletic Association Indoor Championship in 2009 and the coaching staff was recognized as Coaching Staff of the Year.
Before Emory, Vahrenkamp spent two seasons with the Coyotes of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. While there he helped the men’s indoor and women’s outdoor teams become North Central Conference Champions in 2007. In 2008 the women were indoor and outdoor NCC Champions. Vahrenkamp also spent three years at Rapid City Christian High School as the assistant track and field coach where he coached the state champion in the women’s 3200.
Background
Before joining the collegiate world of coaching Vahrenkamp was the 2001 South Dakota State Champion in 300-meter hurdles and in 2002 he became the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology school record holder in the pentathlon.
He then went on to attend the University of South Dakota where he was part of the North Central Conference Championship team during the 2005 indoor season and the 2006 indoor and outdoor seasons. He also became the 2005 NCC Champion in the pentathlon. The Coyotes finished fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2006. Vahrenkamp holds a bachelor‘s degree in education which he obtained from The U in 2006. He also received his master’s degree in history from there in 2008. In addition, he has earned the USTFCCCA Head Coaching Certification and a Certification in Sprints and Hurdles along with the Track and Field Technical Certification and the USATF Level One Track and Field Coaching Certification.
