Induction Class of 2016 – Head Girls Track Coach, Teacher
Wilden began her teaching and coaching career in the fall of 1977 with the Harlan Community School District where she was the head gymnastics and tennis coach. Wilden later served as Davenport Assumption’s head gymnastics coach, assistant track and field coach and she started their girls cross country program.
Wilden spent eight years at Assumption, where her Gymnastics teams earned state births every year. Wilden put out a state balance beam champion during her first season. Her teams garnered three conference championships and finished second to Clinton in 1982 at the state championship.
Wilden came to Clinton High School in 1986 to teach physical education, health and serve as head gymnastics coach. Her experience at Clinton High School was one of 28 years at the helm involving gymnastics, where her teams went 20 – 2 in dual competition, cross country, swimming and track & field.
Wilden’s 1987 gymnastics team were state champions, scoring the most points ever by an Iowa team at the state championship. Wilden was named Iowa’s Coach of the Year. The 1988 team finished second.
Wilden is probably best known for the successes of her teams while coaching track & field. She became the head girls track coach in 1990. Working beside her assistant coaches the girls won six MAC Indoor Championships and accumulated 46 individual conference champions.
The River Queens were crowned MAC team champions nine times, with 81 individual champions. The River Queens were eight time regional team champions with 74 individual champions and 23 runner up individual or relay finishes. At the state meet the team title eluded the River Queens but the they were able to earn 15 individual or relay champions with 12 runner up event finishes. The River Queens amassed 107 top eight event finishers with 246 state qualifying events and 272 River Queens competing at the state track and field meet over the 24 year span of Wilden being the head coach. Wilden also coached eight Drake Relays champions. The River Queens also won two state championships in the team pentathlon with one pentathlon champion and two runners up.
Wilden served as the only female president of the Iowa Track and Field Cross Country Association for two years and was a six year member of the Iowa High School Girls Athletic Unions Track and Field Advisory Board. Wilden retired from coaching in 2014 and teaching in 2015 after 38 years in the education profession. She continues to volunteer with the American Red Cross as a swimming instructor, working at the City of Clinton Riverview swimming pool, and enjoys watching and volunteering at track and field meets. Wilden and her husband Ray reside in Clinton and have two adult children, Larissa and Lance in the Quad Cities. Wilden has always been supported by her mother Lois Christensen of Elk Horn, Iowa and her late father, Lamont Christensen.