RIVER FALLS, Wis. — Jake Anderson was named the University of Wisconsin-River Falls head strength & conditioning coach on Wednesday, July 5, as announced by Athletics Director Crystal Lanning.

Anderson brings over 20 years of experience working with a variety of sports at multiple levels. Since 2011, Anderson, M.Ed., C.S.C.S., has lived in Turkey working as the Director of Performance Enhancement with iSPORTSi (International Sports Initiative). A co-founder of the company, Anderson served as the strength & conditioning coach for many teams and athletes, varying from football to basketball and boxing. Jake coordinated and led several strength & conditioning internships, camps and clinics, and online instructional videos. In addition, he published a Turkish book on performance enhancement. 

"I'm excited to welcome Coach Anderson to UW-River Falls as our head strength and conditioning coach," said Lanning. "He has worked with a variety of athletes at the NCAA DI, NCAA DIII and international level. His past experience will allow him to provide quality instruction to our varsity sport programs."

Before his time overseas, Anderson spent eight years as the Director of Strength & Conditioning at Central College in Pella, Iowa. At Central, he designed and implemented comprehensive lifting, speed, and conditioning programs for 21 varsity athletic teams and developed an internship program that trained multiple interns. He also taught as an instructor of exercise science and was named the AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) Samson National Strength Coach of the Year in 2008.

"I want to thank Kellen Wells-Mangold and the rest of the search committee for this opportunity," Anderson commented. "I am beyond excited to begin coaching at UW-River Falls and helping student-athletes achieve the goals they are passionate about. The vision of the athletics department to pursue excellence in all areas of student-athlete's lives was something that resonated deeply with me. I look forward to getting to know the coaches, athletes, and support staff. Go Falcons!"

Anderson obtained his undergraduate degree in exercise science from Iowa State University and his master's degree in higher education from the University of Iowa. While attending Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, Jake served as a performance enhancement coach for a variety of sports programs. Since 2000, he has been a certified strength and conditioning specialist through the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) and has been affiliated with 3D Institute as a certified 3Dimensional International Presenter.