Joe Klim joined the Penn track & field programs as an assistant coach ahead of the 2012-13 season, specializing in jumps and multi-events. In March 2021, he was elevated to the position of Assistant Director of Track & Field.
Following the 2024 indoor season, Klim was honored as the USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year. Overall, he has coached 11 athletes to a total of 16 Ivy Heptagonal individual championships and seven athletes to 14 NCAA Championships qualifications including six first-team All-America performances. Klim’s athletes also hold program records in all four pole vault sections, three of the four high jump sections, and the men’s indoor heptathlon.
In the summer of 2024, a pair of Klim’s pole vaulters, Jimmy Rhoads and Scott Toney, competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore.
Penn’s women have won eight Ivy Heptagonal team titles during Klim’s tenure at Penn, four each in indoor and outdoor. That includes indoor/outdoor Heps sweeps in 2018, 2019 and 2024.
Entering the 2024-25 track & field seasons…
Performer Lists Under Klim
*INDOOR HIGH JUMP (M): Maalik Reynolds, 1st (2.24m); Kampton Kam, 2nd; Mike Monroe, 4th; Thomas Pitt, 7th; Mark Hellwig, 9th
*INDOOR HIGH JUMP (W): Anna Peyton Malizia, 1st (1.81m); Olivia Welsh, 2nd; Addie Renner, 5th; Sarah Lavery/Samantha Strydesky/Noel Jancewicz, t-9th
*OUTDOOR HIGH JUMP (M): Mike Monroe, 3rd; Kampton Kam, 4th; Thomas Pitt, 7th; Conrad Moore, 10th
*OUTDOOR HIGH JUMP (W): Anna Peyton Malizia, 1st (1.84m); Sarah Lavery/Claire Moreau, t-2nd; Adie Renner, 4th; Noel Jancewicz, 7th; Samantha Strydesky, 10th
*INDOOR POLE VAULT (M): James Rhoads, 1st (5.58m); Scott Toney, 2nd; Sean Clarke, 3rd; Nathan Fisher, 4th; Caleb Johnson, 6th; Payton Morris, 7th; Benedikt Sachta, 9th
*INDOOR POLE VAULT (W): Evangeline Thomson, 1st (4.00m); Nicole Macco, 2nd; Molly Minnig, 3rd; Natalie Ilieva, 4th; Meghan Hart/Abby Norwillo, t-5th; Kai Eisenhardt, 7th; Zoe Early/Katie Schroeder, t-8th
*OUTDOOR POLE VAULT (M): James Rhoads, 1st (5.62m); Scott Toney, 2nd; Sean Clark, 4th; Nathan Fisher, 6th; Payton Morris, 8th
*OUTDOOR POLE VAULT (W): Natalia Ilieva, 1st (4.22m); Molly Minnig, 2nd; Nicole Macco, 3rd; Evangeline Thomson, 4th; Abby Norwillo, 6th; Meghan Hart, 7th; Michelle Rubinetti/Zoe Early, t-9th
*INDOOR HEPTATHLON: Evan Lee, 1st (5,507 points); Andrew Colbert, 5th; James Mirfield, 7th; Demetri Whitsett, 8th
*OUTDOOR DECATHLON: Evan Lee, 8th; Andrew Colbert, 9th; Demetri Whitsett, 10th
*OUTDOOR DISCUS (M – coached in 2021): Chudi Ikpeazu, 2nd
*OUTDOOR HAMMER (M – coached in 2021): Campbell Parker, 10th
*OUTDOOR SHOT PUT (W – coached in 2021): Morgan Johnson, 6th
*INDOOR PENTATHLON (W – coached from 2013-16): Noel Jancewicz, 3rd
*OUTDOOR HEPTATHLON (W – coached from 2013-16): Noel Jancewicz, 2nd
NCAA Qualifiers Under Klim
*James Rhoads (4th in indoor pole vault in 2024) – first-team All-America
*James Rhoads (6th in outdoor pole vault in 2024) – first-team All-America
*Scott Toney (5th in indoor pole vault in 2024) – first-team All-America
*Scott Toney (13th in outdoor pole vault in 2024)
*Kampton Kam (16th in indoor high jump in 2024)
*Scott Toney (22nd in men’s pole vault in 2023)
*Sean Clarke (13th in men’s pole vault in 2019)
*Anna Peyton Malizia (3rd in women’s high jump in 2019) – first-team All-America
*Anna Peyton Malizia (NH in women’s high jump in 2018)
*Sean Clarke (15th in men’s pole vault in 2017)
*Mike Monroe (20th in outdoor men’s high jump in 2015)
*Maalik Reynolds (7th in outdoor high jump in 2014) – first-team All-America
*Maalik Reynolds (10th in indoor high jump in 2014)
*Maalik Reynolds (6th in outdoor high jump in 2013) – first-team All-America
Individual Heps Champions Under Klim
2024 Outdoor
*James Rhoads (men’s PV) – Scott Toney 2nd
2024 Indoor
*Kampton Kam (men’s HJ)
*Scott Toney (men’s PV) – James Rhoads 2nd
2020 Indoor
*Caleb Johnson (men’s PV)
2019 Outdoor
*Anna Peyton Malizia (women’s HJ)
*Sean Clarke (men’s PV)
2019 Indoor
*Anna Peyton Malizia (women’s HJ)
*Nathan Fisher (men’s PV)
2018 Outdoor
*Mike Monroe (men’s HJ)
*Anna Peyton Malizia (women’s HJ)
*Sean Clarke (men’s PV)
*Nicole Macco (women’s PV)
2018 Indoor
*Anna Peyton Malizia (women’s HJ)
2016 Outdoor
*Thomas Pitt (men’s LJ)
2015 Indoor
*Mike Monroe (men’s HJ)
2014 Outdoor
*Maalik Reynolds (men’s HJ) – also Outstanding Field Performer of the Meet
Before joining the staff at Penn, Klim was the assistant coach for the Akron men's cross country and track & field team for two seasons. There, he coached the men's team to its first-ever Mid-American Conference outdoor team championship in 2008.
Leading up to his years at Akron, Klim spent the 2005-06 season at Penn State University as a volunteer assistant with the women's track & field team. He was responsible for coaching the high jump and assisting with sprints, hurdles and jumps while with the Nittany Lions.
Prior to Penn State, Klim spent nine years coaching at Bucknell University. As the associate head coach for men's and women's cross country and track & field, his teams earned 20 Patriot League team championships; three men's cross country, four women's cross country, seven women's indoor track and six women's outdoor track. His athletes broke 27 school records and achieved 171 top-10 performances during his time with the Bison.
Klim's early career included stints as the head coach of the Elmhurst College cross country and track & field programs (1991-92), a graduate assistant at Campbell University (1992-94), and assistant and interim head coach at Emory University (1994-96). During that span, Klim had student-athletes qualify for NCAA Championship meets in 14 different disciplines with All-Americans in the high jump, triple jump, decathlon and 400.
Klim received his undergraduate degree in marketing from Elmhurst College in 1991. He competed for the Bluejays' track & field team at the NCAA National Championships in the decathlon, 110-meter hurdles, 400m hurdles and javelin.
In addition to his performances on the track, Klim was twice a CCIW all-conference selection and earned most valuable player honors as a member of the Bluejays' football team. In 1997, he was inducted into the Elmhurst College Hall of Fame for his athletic accomplishments. He earned his master's degree in physical education from Campbell University in 1994.
Klim lives in Cherry Hill, N.J., with his wife, Nittaya, and their son, Andrew.
