CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
· Fritz Spence enters his 19th year coaching with the Nittany Lions. Following a role transition in 2022, Spence will continue to guide the Nittany Lions’ multi-event athletes and high jumpers in 2025.
· He has had outstanding results in his time with the Nittany Lions, overseeing 33 All-America efforts, nine top-5 NCAA finishers, 24 conference champions, while also contributing to two top-four team finishes at the NCAA Championships (2008 and 2010) a Big Ten triple crown (2009-10), and USTFCCCA Scholar Team of the Year (2010). He is a five-time USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year honoree.
AT PENN STATE
· Chloe Royce and Maddie Pitts’ performance in the pentathlon at the Big Ten Indoor Championships highlighted the 2024 indoor season for Spence’s athletes. Royce took home the conference title for the second time as a Nittany Lion while Pitts finished third in the same event. The multi-event duo picked up 16 team points for the Nittany Lion women, who finished second overall at the conference meet. Pitts followed up her indoor multi-event performance with a silver medal finish at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, setting the fifth-best heptathlon mark in school history. Pitts also lent her talents to the school record-setting SMR squad at the 2024 Penn Relays. Spence coached high jumper Isaac Osifo to a personal-best 2.14-meter high jump clearance, the best mark by a Nittany Lion in the event in a half-decade.
· In 2023, Spence welcomed multi-event athlete Maddie Pitts to the squad. In her first pentathlon of the season, Pitts finished fourth in the Big Ten with the eighth-best mark in Penn State history, a 5,265-point effort. Spence also coached high jumpers Tim Watson, Cecelia Bacon, and Carlie Wilson to appearances at the NCAA East Prelims during the outdoor season. Bacon, a graduate student, set the No. 3 mark in the event during the outdoor season (5-11.25, 1.81m) and tied Alexa Parks’ program record during indoor season with a 6-0 (1.83m) clearance.
· In 2022, Chloe Royce earned gold at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in the women’s pentathlon with a score of 4,080, under Spence’s tutelage. The Maryland transfer also posted a 5,152 score in the outdoor heptathlon in 2022, good for the eighth-best mark in program history.
· Spence helped steer Maddie Holmberg to her second career Big Ten Championship in 2021, closing out her Blue & White tenure with a Big Ten heptathlon title and a Second Team All-America honor with her sixth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Holmberg earned NCAA East Prelims in the long jump and was joined at the regional meet by Wilson in the high jump. Wilson and Breana Gambrell both scored points for Penn State at the Big Ten Championships, with Gambrell placing fifth in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump, and Wilson placing sixth in the high jump with a PR at the meet.
· In 2020, Spence guided Holmberg to just the second Big Ten Pentathlon Championship in program history. Holmberg’s score of 4,274 points is second in school history. Also under Spence’s tutelage, Parks became the first Nittany Lion to clear 6-0 (1.83m) in the high jump, setting a school record in the event. Spence’s athletes scored points at the Big Ten Championships in the pentathlon, long jump, high jump and triple jump with Holmberg and Parks advancing to the NCAA Indoor Championships. Parks and Holmberg were each awarded All-America honors due to the cancellation of the NCAA Indoor Championships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Spence was awarded USTFCCCA Women’s Mid-Atlantic Region Assistant Coach of the Year honors for his efforts.
· The women’s mutli-event athletes and jumpers continued their success in 2019. Holmberg earned Second Team All-American honors with a ninth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Additionally, Gambrell and Parks each qualified for the NCAA East Prelims in their respective events.
· In 2018, Holmberg set the heptathlon school record with her total score of 5,976 points at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships and her bronze medal finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships was the highest of any heptathlete in school history. Holmberg also recorded the multi-record in the shot put with her indoor mark of 46-0.50 (14.03m) and outdoor mark 44-8.25 (13.62m). Holmberg was also named Mid-Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year and was a First Team All-American following both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Megan McCloskey had an outstanding season closing out her career with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships in the high jump (5-10/1.78m). During the 2018 indoor season, she tied the No. 3 height in indoor history with a clearance of 5-10.50 (1.79m).
· Multiple athletes turned in spectacular performances during the 2017 season under Spence’s watch. Holmberg qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championship meet in the heptathlon in her sophomore season. Dannielle Gibson earned indoor and outdoor All-America honors in the triple jump recording Penn State’s all-conditions top mark at 45-1.75 (13.76w) in her gold medal performance at the Big Ten Championships. Spence coached Gibson to a Second Team All-America finish in the triple jump at the Indoor Championships, following her Big Ten silver medal in the event. Gibson went on to earn gold in the event at the outdoor conference meet and then earned First Team All-America recognition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with the third-best mark in school history. Spence’s high jumpers, McCloskey and Ahmenah Richardson, finished fourth and fifth in the event, respectively. Gibson received Mid-Atlantic Region Field Athlete of the Year honors for her efforts during the outdoor campaign and then went on to claim the gold medal in the triple jump at the NACAC U-23 Championship meet.
· Gibson earned Second Team All-America honors in the triple jump following both indoor and outdoor seasons in 2016 as well, both following silver-medal performances in the event at Big Ten conference meets.
· In 2015 under the guidance of coach Spence, Gibson, a sophomore, tallied a bronze medal finish in the triple jump at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, scoring six points for Penn State with her leap of 42-3.50. Gibson would also finish fourth in the long jump with her personal-best jump of 20-2.25 (6.15m). Gibson would go on to qualify for the NCAA East Prelims in the long jump and the triple jump. In the vertical jumps, Richardson qualified for the NCAA East Prelims in the high jump.
· Spence guided Brittney Howell to an outstanding 2014 outdoor campaign, highlighted by an impressive long jump at the NCAA East Prelims. Howell also turned in a pair of scoring performances at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. She posted Penn State’s top long jump mark during the 2014 campaign going 20-4.50 (6.21m) during the indoor season and 20-10.75 (6.37m) during the outdoor season. At the time, the performance came in at No. 5 indoors and No. 3 outdoors in the all-time Penn State rankings.
· Spence coached Marlene Ricketts, who advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the triple jump in 2013, to USTFCCCA Second Team All-America status. Ricketts ended her senior season with an indoor lifetime-best effort of 42-4.75 (12.92m) and outdoor lifetime-best effort of 42-2.75 (12.87m) in the triple jump. These were, at the time, the second-best and fifth-best performances in program history.
· Spence took on a new coaching role in 2012, overseeing the Nittany Lion men’s and women’s javelin throwers, including All-America finishers Laura Loht and Lauren Kenney. Spence guided the duo to a one-two finish at the Big Ten Championships with Loht taking top honors. The Nittany Lions were thoroughly impressive at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which included a PR toss from Loht at 169-4 (51.92m) for third, and a lifetime-best 167-10 (51.17m) for Kenney in fourth.
· Spence guided Tanaya Lloyd to an outstanding Nittany Lion career overall, as Lloyd finished up with the fourth-best performance in Penn State history at 42-3.50 (12.89m). Spence’s athletes recorded an outstanding medal haul at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in 2011, scoring podium finishes in all four horizontal events.
· During the 2009 season, the Nittany Lion jumps squad NCAA Outdoor Championship qualifiers included Clarence Smith in the triple jump, Gayle Hunter in the heptathlon and long jump, and Bianca Fung in the long jump. Indoors, Spence guided Hunter to a runner-up finish in the pentathlon, which tied the highest-ever finish by a Nittany Lion at NCAA Indoor Championships while also overseeing Hunter’s school record leap of 20-11.25 (6.38m) in the long jump during the multi-event competition. Hunter also set school records in the pentathlon, 4,342, and heptathlon, 5,797. Hunter went on to earn Mid-Atlantic Region Field Athlete of the Year honors during the indoor and outdoor seasons.
BEFORE PENN STATE
· Prior to coming to Penn State, Spence coached 14 conference champions, 10 NCAA qualifiers, and eight All-Americans at Missouri State University. He was a part of a coaching staff that won four Missouri Valley Conference Team Championships in both the indoor (2003 and `04) and outdoor (2002 and ’03) seasons.
COACHING HONORS
· 2019 USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Women's Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year
· 2017 USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Women’s Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year
· 2008 USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Men’s Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year
· 2008 USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Men’s Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year
· 2006 USTFCCCA Mid-East Region Women’s Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year
PROMINENT ATHLETES COACHED
· Maddie Pitts (Penn State)
o 1x Big Ten Silver Medalist (’24 heptathlon)
o 1x Big Ten Bronze Medalist (’24 pentathlon)
o 1x Penn State record holder
§ SMR (outdoor) – 200m leg (3:44.66)
o No. 5 in Penn State history in the heptathlon (5,422 pts)
· Chloe Royce (Penn State)
o 2x Big Ten Champion (’22, ’24 pentathlon)
· Cecelia Bacon (Penn State)
o Penn State record holder in the indoor high jump (6-0, 1.83m), tied with Alexa Parks.
o No. 3 all-time at Penn State in the outdoor high jump (5-11.25, 1.81m)
· Alexa Parks (Penn State)
o 1x Big Ten Bronze Medalist (’19 indoor high jump)
o Penn State record holder in the indoor high jump (6-0, 1.83m)
· Maddie Holmberg (Penn State)
o 1x NCAA Bronze Medalist ('18 heptathlon)
o 4x All-American (2x heptathlon, 2x pentathlon)
o 2x Big Ten Champion (’21 heptathlon, ’20 pentathlon)
o 2x Big Ten Silver Medalist (’18 heptathlon, ’18 pentathlon)
o 1x Penn State record holder
§ Heptathlon (5,976).
o No. 2 all time at Penn State in the pentathlon (4,342)
· Dannielle Gibson (Penn State)
o 2x First Team All-American (’17 i/o triple jump)
o 2x Big Ten Champion (’17 i/o triple jump)
o 1x NACAC Champion (’17 triple jump)
o No. 1 all-conditions outdoor triple jump mark in program history (No. 3 wind-legal)
o No. 2 indoor triple jump mark in school history
· Brittney Howell (Penn State)
o 1x USTFCCCA Second Team All-American (’14 heptathlon)
o 1x Big Ten Champion (’14 heptathlon)
o No. 3 in school history in the pentathlon, No. 4 in school history in the heptathlon
· Gayle Hunter (Penn State)
o 2008 NCAA Champion in the outdoor 4x400 relay
o 2009 NCAA Runner-Up in the pentathlon
o 9x NCAA All-American
o 4x Mid-Atlantic Region Field Athlete of the Year
o 2x Penn State school record holder
§ Indoor long jump (6.38m)
§ Outdoor 4x400 (3:27.69)
o Owns No. 2 marks in pentathlon, outdoor 4x400, and outdoor long jump.
o 3x USATF National Championships Qualifier
· Clarence Smith (Penn State)
o 2x NCAA All-American (triple jump)
o 3x Big Ten Champion (triple jump)
o 2x Mid-Atlantic Region Field Athlete of the Year
o 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials Qualifier
o 2x USATF Championships Qualifier
· Tracy Partain (Missouri State)
o 2006 NCAA Silver Medalist
o 2006 NACAC U-23 Champion (heptathlon)
o 2x NCAA All-American (heptathlon)
o 5x Missouri Valley Conference Champion
· Fabian Florant (Missouri State)
o 1x NCAA All-American (’06 triple jump)
o 3x Missouri Valley Conference Champion (triple jump)
· Greg Hughes (Missouri State)
o 2x NCAA All-American
o 4x Missouri Valley Conference Champion
THE SPENCE FILE
Personal
Year at Penn State: 19th
Hometown: Bahamas
Education: Missouri State, 1997 – B.S. in Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies. 2015 – M.S. in Administrative Studies and Applied Science
Coaching Career
2006-Present – Penn State (Assistant Coach)
2000-2006 – Missouri State (Assistant Coach)