Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Sweeney Becomes WVU’s Third Master of Strength Coach (MSCC)
May 18, 2022 10:39 AM | General, Blog
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Late last month, West Virginia University unveiled its new $10 million Athletics Performance Center, a 36,000+-square-foot facility that is being utilized by the vast majority of its student-athletes on a daily basis.
The new facility, made possible through a gift from the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust, was the culmination of a five-year effort by WVU director of athletics Shane Lyons to get WVU's Olympic sports program's infrastructure on par with its Big 12 brethren.
Overseeing the massive new facility is Kaitlin Sweeney, WVU's assistant athletics director of strength and conditioning for Olympic Sports. Sweeney, a Salem, Massachusetts, native, is part of Mike Joseph's 11-person strength and conditioning team tasked with the vital role of developing Mountaineer student-athletes.
She came to WVU in 2018 from Notre Dame, where she spent eight years working with Notre Dame's softball and track and field programs. Her professional career also includes stints at Dartmouth and Wisconsin-La Crosse, where she earned a master's degree in human performance and strength and conditioning.
Sweeney, a four-year women's soccer letter winner at Ithaca College, was recently named a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCC) by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA). She joins Joseph and Tanner Kolb, associate director of strength and conditioning for Olympic sports, as members of WVU's strength and conditioning staff who have earned this prestigious distinction.
Becoming a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach is the highest honor given in the strength and conditioning profession and is based on expertise, years of service, continuing education and other factors.
Having one Master Strength and Conditioning Coach is considered a bonus for any athletics department, but to have three on an 11-person staff is pretty exceptional.
Kolb, a Pittsburgh native who has an extensive background in the strength and conditioning field at all levels, received his citation last year and Joseph earned his distinction in 2014.
"It's definitely a bonus for our staff," Joseph said.
Kaitlyn and Tanner are responsible for approximately 300 student-athletes in the Olympic Sports Performance Center, located on the site where the old WVU Natatorium once sat. They have three hard-working assistants, Jarrod Burton, Nolan Harvath and Pat Shelby, to help oversee the strength and conditioning needs of approximately 300 student-athletes.
Shaun Brown coordinates strength and conditioning for men's basketball and Zack Allen handles strength and conditioning for women's basketball in the Basketball Practice Facility weight room.
Joseph, a former Fairmont State gridder, and his assistants Chris Allen, Alex Mitchell and Nick Meadows, are responsible for Mountaineer football's strength and conditioning needs at the 72,000-square-foot Milan Puskar Center.
Deputy Director of Athletics Steve Uryasz is the department's senior administrative point per person for strength and conditioning.
Joseph, who has coordinated Mountaineer football's strength and conditioning needs since 2008, encompassing coaches Bill Stewart, Dana Holgorsen and Neal Brown, believes the current strength and conditioning setup is the best it has ever been for WVU student-athletes.
In the past, facility limitations required Olympic sports teams to use the weight rooms at either football or basketball, oftentimes at less-than-optimal times. Now, thanks to Lyons' great vision, every sport has a first-class venue in which to develop and improve.
"We are definitely at the best point, facility-wise, since I've been here," Joseph pointed out. "Our new Olympic Sports Performance Center is among the best in the country. It was a long time coming."
Joseph said the new facility allows for a more efficient training environment. The weight rooms at all three venues typically open at 6 or 7 a.m. and close at 6 or 7 p.m., based on team schedules.
More importantly, these three venues have 11 highly skilled and acclaimed professionals running them, as evidenced through their continued commitment to excellence in the strength and conditioning profession.
The new facility, made possible through a gift from the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust, was the culmination of a five-year effort by WVU director of athletics Shane Lyons to get WVU's Olympic sports program's infrastructure on par with its Big 12 brethren.
Overseeing the massive new facility is Kaitlin Sweeney, WVU's assistant athletics director of strength and conditioning for Olympic Sports. Sweeney, a Salem, Massachusetts, native, is part of Mike Joseph's 11-person strength and conditioning team tasked with the vital role of developing Mountaineer student-athletes.She came to WVU in 2018 from Notre Dame, where she spent eight years working with Notre Dame's softball and track and field programs. Her professional career also includes stints at Dartmouth and Wisconsin-La Crosse, where she earned a master's degree in human performance and strength and conditioning.
Sweeney, a four-year women's soccer letter winner at Ithaca College, was recently named a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach (MSCC) by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA). She joins Joseph and Tanner Kolb, associate director of strength and conditioning for Olympic sports, as members of WVU's strength and conditioning staff who have earned this prestigious distinction.
Becoming a Master Strength and Conditioning Coach is the highest honor given in the strength and conditioning profession and is based on expertise, years of service, continuing education and other factors.
Having one Master Strength and Conditioning Coach is considered a bonus for any athletics department, but to have three on an 11-person staff is pretty exceptional.
Kolb, a Pittsburgh native who has an extensive background in the strength and conditioning field at all levels, received his citation last year and Joseph earned his distinction in 2014.
"It's definitely a bonus for our staff," Joseph said.
Kaitlyn and Tanner are responsible for approximately 300 student-athletes in the Olympic Sports Performance Center, located on the site where the old WVU Natatorium once sat. They have three hard-working assistants, Jarrod Burton, Nolan Harvath and Pat Shelby, to help oversee the strength and conditioning needs of approximately 300 student-athletes.
Shaun Brown coordinates strength and conditioning for men's basketball and Zack Allen handles strength and conditioning for women's basketball in the Basketball Practice Facility weight room.
Joseph, a former Fairmont State gridder, and his assistants Chris Allen, Alex Mitchell and Nick Meadows, are responsible for Mountaineer football's strength and conditioning needs at the 72,000-square-foot Milan Puskar Center.
Deputy Director of Athletics Steve Uryasz is the department's senior administrative point per person for strength and conditioning.Joseph, who has coordinated Mountaineer football's strength and conditioning needs since 2008, encompassing coaches Bill Stewart, Dana Holgorsen and Neal Brown, believes the current strength and conditioning setup is the best it has ever been for WVU student-athletes.
In the past, facility limitations required Olympic sports teams to use the weight rooms at either football or basketball, oftentimes at less-than-optimal times. Now, thanks to Lyons' great vision, every sport has a first-class venue in which to develop and improve.
"We are definitely at the best point, facility-wise, since I've been here," Joseph pointed out. "Our new Olympic Sports Performance Center is among the best in the country. It was a long time coming."
Joseph said the new facility allows for a more efficient training environment. The weight rooms at all three venues typically open at 6 or 7 a.m. and close at 6 or 7 p.m., based on team schedules.
More importantly, these three venues have 11 highly skilled and acclaimed professionals running them, as evidenced through their continued commitment to excellence in the strength and conditioning profession.
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