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Steve Spence
Shippensburg University

Spence was one of the two inaugural recipients of the PSAC Award of Merit. He garned the award in 1992 after competing in the Barcelona Olympic Games, where he finished 12th in the marathon despite battling the flu. A 1985 graduate of Shippensburg, where he is currently the head men's and women's cross country coach, Spence was a volunteer coach with the Raiders at the time of his award. He served as a volunteer coach while pursuing his professional distance running career, which led to international recognition and success.

At the 1991 World Track & Field Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Spence won a bronze medal in the marathon, which marked the first American medal in a distance race in international competition since Frank Shorter's silver medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. In 1992, Spence won the marathon at the U.S. Olympic Trials to qualify for the Olympic team. His 12th place finish in Barcelona marked the best finish for a U.S. runner in the marathon since Shorter's medal in 1976. Spence officially retired from competitive distance running in 1997, which coincided with him being named the head men's and women's cross country and track & field coach during the fall season. He currently serves as an assistant track & field coach in addition to his role as the head cross country coach.

As of the end of the 2011 cross country season, Spence has been named the PSAC Coach of the Year in either men's or women's cross country seven times. A native of Elizabethtown, Pa. and a graduate of Lower Dauphin High School, Spence was a five-time PSAC champion and a two-time NCAA champion in track & field events during his collegiate days. His oldest daughter, Neely, in 2011 became the first runner in PSAC cross country history - men's or women's - to win four PSAC individual championships before turning professional to pursue a spot in the 2012 Olympics.