NORTHFIELD, Minn. - The St. Olaf College Athletic Department and Athletic Director
Ryan Bowles announced the hiring of
John Waters as assistant athletic director for athletic performance on Wednesday.
Waters comes to St. Olaf with over five years of experience at the NCAA Division I level and most recently served as the associate director of athletic performance at Arkansas State for the last two-plus years.
"We are excited to have John join our team," Bowles said. "He brings a wealth of experience and it was clear that he shares a common vision for our athletic performance program. I know our student-athletes will benefit greatly from his work."
At Arkansas State, Waters was the associate director of athletic performance and worked with the Red Wolves' football program, assisting in all athletic performance design and operation. He also worked as the director of sport science, designed the strength and mobility program for quarterbacks and all freshmen, as well as the return-to-play protocols for injured athletes. Waters also coordinated the maintenance and daily operation of the Centennial Bank Football Operations Weight Room.
"I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to be a part of St. Olaf Athletics," Waters said. "I'd like to thank Ryan Bowles and the rest of the department for allowing me to be a part of the great tradition of St. Olaf Athletics!"
Prior to his time at Arkansas State, Waters was the assistant director of strength and conditioning at Central Michigan University, where he was the head strength and conditioning coach for the softball and women's gymnastics programs and assisted with the football program.
Waters also spent time at Elon University as an assistant sports performance coach, assisting the director of sports performance in all aspects of the strength and conditioning program. At Elon, he was the head sports performance coach for the baseball, women's soccer, track and field, and women's golf teams and assisted with the football program. Waters also was a strength and conditioning intern for the University of Iowa's football program in 2017.
Waters graduated from Augustana University (S.D.) with a bachelor of arts degree in exercise science and went on to earn his master of science degree in exercise science - injury prevention and athletic performance from California University of Pennsylvania. While at Augustana, he played four years of football for the Vikings, recording 178 tackles and serving as a team captain as a senior.
