The University of Minnesota Crookston athletic department announced the hiring of Nick Stone as fitness and wellness center coordinator/strength and conditioning coach. Stone is the first full-time strength and conditioning coach for the Minnesota Crookston athletic programs. It is a pivotal position for the department as they look to increase their competitiveness on the field and help with injury prevention in conjunction with the UMN Crookston sports medicine staff led by Steven Krouse. Stone focuses on competing, providing support, building a team mentality, focusing on the intent behind everything, attention to the process, providing a positive environment, and not fearing failure. In addition to serving as the strength and conditioning coach for the athletic programs, Stone will also oversee general student wellness and fitness programming for the wellness center.
“We are very excited to add Nick to our UMN Crookston athletic department staff,” said Director of Athletics Stephanie Helgeson. “The position of strength and conditioning coach is vital to the success of our student-athletes, and we are very excited to have Nick be the first person to serve in this role full-time. He is someone who is not afraid to put in the work and has a great background in strength and conditioning from his time at Harding and Loras. We are very excited to see the growth of our programs and an increased focus on injury prevention.”
Stone comes to Minnesota Crookston after serving as a graduate assistant at Harding University in Searcy, Ark. Harding competes in NCAA Division II in the Great American Conference (GAC). Stone helped with program design, implementation, and strength and conditioning coaching for the Harding women’s soccer, men’s golf, and baseball programs. He also helped with speed sessions, as well as with the Bison football team, and directed Catapult GPS and Titan GPS programs with the soccer program. Stone has experience programming and implementing the Vitruve VBT system. He programmed and implemented soccer ACL return to play protocol and also had experience with sports nutrition.
Previously, Stone was an intern at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, where he helped with coaching for men’s soccer, baseball, and men’s volleyball. He also assisted with coaching lifting sessions for the football team. In addition, he spent three months in 2020 as an intern for TCBoost Sports Performance in Northbrook, Ill. Stone also played two years of collegiate baseball at Loras from 2017- to 19.
Stone is currently pursuing his Master of Science in strength and conditioning at Harding University. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Coach (C.S.C.S.). He received his Bachelor of Arts in kinesiology and exercise science from Loras College. Stone is a native of Wheeling, Ill. He is also a competitive powerlifter and coach. Stone is also USAW (USA Weightlifting)-Level 1 certified and is FMS (Functional Movement Systems)-Level 1 certified.
