Kenyon College Athletics

Kirk Shellhouse is in his third campaign as head of the Owls men’s and women’s cross country programs and assistant coach for Kenyon’s track and field teams. 

During his first season in 2023, Shellhouse led the men's cross country team to four top-ten finishes, taking seventh in the NCAC Conference meet with two runners earning All-NCAC spots. During the women's season, the Owls notched three top-ten finishes, taking sixth in the conference meet while one runner made the All-NCAC team.

In 2024, Shellhouse's second at Kenyon, the men's team had a trio of top-four finishes and climbed up to a sixth-place finish at the conference championship. The 2024 women's team also claimed a sixth-place showing at the NCAC meet. The men had two all-conference honorees, while the women had one. 

Prior to his position at Kenyon, Shellhouse spent the previous seven years at NCAA Division III Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia. There he served as the head coach for both the track and field and cross country programs. He coached the men’s cross country team to runner-up finishes in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) in 2018, 2020-21, 2021 and 2022.

During his tenure with the Stormy Petrels, Shellhouse coached individual male and female athletes to a combined 89 All-SAA honors, 15 SAA individual titles, eight SAA Newcomer of the Year honors, one SAA Field Athlete of the Year honor, 18 All-Region honors, five NCAA Championship appearances, and seven U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honors.

Prior to Oglethorpe, Shellhouse served as an assistant coach at Trinity University and a graduate assistant coach at Defiance College. Before entering the collegiate ranks full-time, he coached at New London High School and Wellington High School after serving as the volunteer assistant coach at Oberlin College and a student assistant coach at Heidelberg University, his alma mater. 

Shellhouse graduated from Heidelberg in 2010, where he competed on the cross country and track and field teams. While at Heidelberg, his team captured Ohio Athletic Conference cross country and track and field championships in 2009 and 2010. Shellhouse was on teams that took part in four NCAA Division III cross country championships and one Division III track and field championship as a student-athlete.