Aubrey Shenk brings more than three decades of coaching experience to the cross country and track and field programs at Gettysburg. He enters his 10th season as the head coach of all six teams in 2019-20. After serving on an interim basis in 2010-11, he was promoted to full-time status in June 2011.
Since taking over the cross country program, Shenk has coached a total of nine all-region performers and seven All-Centennial Conference finishers. He has coached national qualifiers in each of the last two campaigns. In 2017, Elizabeth Hilfrank ’18 seized All-America recognition at the NCAA Division III Championship, becoming the first woman to earn national accolades in 36 years. Hilfrank was also named the program’s second Academic All-American. Shenk coached two national qualifiers in the fall of 2017 with Sarah Rinehart ’19 joining Hilfrank at the NCAA meet. The previous season, Ben Taber ’17 ran his way to the national stage after placing fourth at the regional meet, marking the best regional finish by a men’s runner in 18 years.
The women’s cross country team has finished among the top 15 regionally in eight of Shenk’s nine seasons at the helm. The squad finished sixth at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional in both 2011 and 2012. The men have finished among the top 20 in the region five times, including 12th in 2010.
In track and field, Shenk has coached three All-Americans and a number of national qualifiers. Clay Reynolds ’11 was the first men’s competitor to claim national status in 15 years when he placed sixth in the indoor mile event. Andre Hinds ’16 finished eighth in the discus at the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships to earn All-America recognition in 2016. Katie Cavanaugh ’16 achieved national recognition during the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2015-16. Cavanaugh finished sixth indoors in the 60-meter hurdles and equaled that placement in the outdoor 100-meter hurdles.
Gettysburg has earned a plethora of conference awards under Shenk’s direction. The men have captured nine individual conference titles and David Kaiser ’16 was named Outdoor Most Outstanding Rookie in 2013. In 2018, Ty Abdul Karim ’18 sped his way to victories in the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash, becoming the first Bullet in program history to win a CC outdoor title in either event. This past season, Nicholas Grissinger ’21 and Steven Heinbaugh ’22 raced to their first CC outdoor titles in the 400-meter hurdles and decathlon, respectively.
On the women’s side, Shenk has coached three indoor/outdoor CC Championship Most Outstanding Performers and 24 conference champions. Katie McCroubie ’16 was the Most Outstanding Performer in 2014 and finished her career with 11 individual titles, including six in the triple jump. In 2017-18, a combined total of 13 Bullets earned All-Centennial Conference recognition. Indoors, the 4x800 relay team became the first in program history to win the conference title and outdoors, Kendra Meredith ’18 (long jump) and Ellery Lyon ’18 (javelin) each seized individual crowns.
Gettysburg has set 29 total indoor and outdoor records under Shenk, including five during the 2017-18 campaign. Indoors, Thomas Clark ’18 reset his mark in the heptathlon (3,810 points), while Rinehart and Mikaela Collins ’18 broke records in the mile (5:08.46) and shot put (41’5.25”), respectively. Rinehart anchored the record-breaking 4x800-meter relay to a time of 9:30.91 during the outdoor season. Sarah Congdon ’18 rounded out the record breakers with a new program standard of 1:04.11 in the 400-meter hurdles last spring.
A long-time member of the Gettysburg coaching staff, Shenk served as an assistant cross country coach from 1984-2009 and as a track & field assistant from 1994-95 through 2009-10. With the track teams, he worked primarily with the distance runners, coaching numerous national qualifiers and All-Americans in his tenure. He coached national qualifiers in three consecutive outdoor track and field seasons from 2003-05.
Shenk served as the head track & field coach at Camp Hill High School from 1986-88 and was a PIAA Track & Field Official from 1989-93. A former licensed psychologist manager at the State Correctional Institution at Camp Hill, Shenk earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Juniata College and his master’s in clinical-community psychology from Acadia University.
Career Highlights
- 10th year being head coach of cross country and track and field programs at Gettysburg
- Coached nine All-Region, seven All-Centennial Conference, and an All-American in cross country
- Led women’s cross country to place among the top 15 regionally in eight of the last nine years
- On the track, he has coached three All-Americans and numerous national qualifiers
- Has coached nine individual conference titles for the men and three indoor/outdoor CC Championship Most Outstanding Performers and 24 conference champions on the women’s side
- 29 total indoor and outdoor records have fallen under Shenk’s time at the helm
