Jim Vahrenkamp joined the Emory University Track and Field coaching staff prior to the start of the 2008-09 season. He coaches the Eagles' throwers and multi-event athletes during the indoor and outdoor track seasons.

Vahrenkamp came to Emory following a two-year stint as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of South Dakota, where he worked with the Coyotes' decathletes, heptathletes, high jumpers, long jumpers and javelin throwers.  Previously, he spent four seasons working with jumpers, throwers and hurdles at Rapid City Christian High School as an assistant track coach, leading his athletes to eight school records. 

As a member of the track and field team at the University of South Dakota, a NCAA Division II institution, Vahrenkamp was qualifier for the decathlon at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships (helping his team to a fourth-place finish), and a qualifier in both the pentathlon and the high jump at the 2002 NAIA Indoor Championships.

Vahrenkamp received his Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of South Dakota during the fall semester of 2006, and recently earned his Master of Arts in History from USD.