Keyton Wheelock joined the University of South Alabama women’s soccer staff in February 2013 as head coach Graham Winkworth’s first hire.
Wheelock joined USA from Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tenn., where she served as an assistant since 2008. While with the Pioneers, Wheelock’s duties included planning practice sessions, assisting the head coach with gameday-related activities, compiling scouting reports, recruiting and exercising various administrative roles.
Her work in her first season on the coaching staff at South Alabama led to a tremendous turnaround as the Jaguars rebounded from an eight-win season in 2012 to a Sun Belt Conference championship campaign the year after.
The South Alabama defense kept nine cleansheets in 2013—second best in the Sun Belt—while the goals against average of 1.01 was also second best in the league.
Goalkeeper Melissa Drish posted a 1.08 GAA and an .816 save percentage to rank third among the league leaders in both categories. Her GAA is a career low with a minimum of 1,000 minutes played and she tied a personal best with seven shutouts, a total that was second most in the conference.
Drish also earned all-tournament honors in 2013 after compiling a 0.31 GAA with two shutouts in three games to give the Jaguars their first-ever Sun Belt Tournament title.
Forced to replace her top two goalkeepers, Wheelock guided her unit to even better numbers in 2014. The team set a new school record with 12 shutouts—second best in the SBC—and Sarah Hay tied the school mark with a 0.92 GAA. The Jags ranked third in the conference in goals allowed (0.96) and goals against average (0.93).
Hay played a key role in South Alabama’s repeat of the Sun Belt Tournament crown, posting a 0.33 GAA in three matches with two shutouts, and was named to the all-tournament team.
In 2009, her first year at Tusculum, Wheelock helped the squad to a 15-5-3 record, a year in which the Pioneers advanced to the South Atlantic Conference semifinals and into the second round of the NCAA tournament. The team received National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America (NSCAA) and NCAA top-25 rankings that season.
Wheelock coached Finland U-20 national team goalkeeper Marjaana Kaaresvirta during the 2009 campaign.
Tusculum recorded a 19-16-3 mark over the next two seasons, advancing to the SAC tournament both times. In 2012, the Pioneers finished 12-3-3 and reached the SAC tournament semifinals.
Wheelock’s club soccer coaching slate includes stints with Blackhawks Soccer Club in Saint Paul, Minn., NorthStar Soccer Club in Traverse City, Mich., and Traverse Bay Area Youth Soccer Club, also in Traverse City. She has also instructed such camps as the Graham Winkworth Soccer Academy, Midwest Elite Soccer Camp, Joy of Soccer, Star Goalkeeper Academy, University of the Cumberlands team camp and NorthStar summer and winter camps.
Wheelock recorded 61 career shutouts at Traverse City West High School and went on to notch a 13-5 record at the University of South Dakota, before transferring to Concordia University, Saint Paul, where she was a two-year team captain and had an overall goals-against average of 1.38, a save percentage of 0.84 and 13 shutouts. She was named Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Defensive Player of the Week twice and was voted to the all-conference team in 2008.
Wheelock, who graduated from Concordia University, St. Paul with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Kinesiology in 2008 and went on to earn her Master of Arts degree in Education at Tusculum in 2011, holds a United States Soccer Federation Class E coaching license, as well as NSCAA state and regional goalkeeping diplomas. She has also obtained an Interscholastic Athletics Coaching Certificate.
