Ryan Johnson - “RJ” teaches physical education at Wayzata High School and is the Strength and Conditioning Coordinator for Wayzata Public Schools, a position he began in 2000. Wayzata Athletics have captured 66 team state titles in his tenure and Johnson works directly with the three-time state champion football program as Director of Operations and Player Development. Johnsonwas named the NSCA 2017 National High School Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year. He is the Region 6 Director/Board Chairman for the National High School Strength Coaches association (NHSSCA) A former volunteer firefighter, he also received an Award of Merit from the Minnesota Department of Health and Safety for participation in a lifesaving CPR/AED effort to receive a player that suffered sudden cardiac arrest while at practice. Johnson is a frequent clinician, speaker and his Wayzata Trojan Power program has been visited by over 70 other high school and small college programs. He also volunteered his time in the Rockford School District where he and his wife and four children reside by serving as the Rockford Area Athletic Association President, Youth Football Director, and Coach. 

Michael Silbernagel:   Mike started at the University of Mary Strength and Conditioning department from the ground up when he took the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach position in January of 2011. Since this time, the strength and conditioning department has grown to one full time assistant coach and two graduate assistant coaches for a total of four staff members. 

Prior to the University of Mary, Silbernagel was an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Colorado State University from 2005-2010. During this time, he was the primary strength and conditioning coach for Volleyball, which won four Mountain West Conference Titles (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010) and made the NCAA Sweet 16 in 2009, and Women's Track and Field which won the 2006 Mountain West Conference Indoor Championship. During that span he was the primary strength and conditioning coach for Women's Basketball, Swimming and Diving, Mens and Womens Golf, Men's Track and Field, and Water Polo while also assisting with Men's basketball. From 2006-2010 as head assistant for Football he was part of two bowl games (2005 Poinsettia Bowl/2008 New Mexico Bowl). 

Silbernagel started his coaching career at the University of North Dakota as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach where he primarily oversaw programs for track and field, cross country, swimming and diving, cheer and dance, and women's soccer while also assisting with football, men's hockey, and womens basketball. 

Silbernagel has personal experience as an athlete as well. A former collegiate football player at Valley City State University and as a competitive powerlifter where he won the 2010 USA powerlifting Raw National Championship. Currently he still competes in local/regional events that fundraise for children with disabilities. 

Silbernagel has had research published in the journal of strength and conditioning research as has presented at numerous state and regional clinics on a variety of topics in strength and conditioning. He has also taken part in recent podcasts: Big Time strength Podcast #14, Art of Coaching Podcast #18, Iron Game Chalk Talk #304, CVASPS - The Podcast #230, Three Cycle Strength Podcast #21, Iron Game Chalk Talk 2.0 #2.31, and The Strength Game Podcast #35, all of which can be found on most podcast streaming services. 

Currently, Silbernagel is also the National Strength and Conditioning association State Director of ND, bringing a state clinic back to the region. 

In May of 2017, he was named Master Strength and Conditioning Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association, which is the highest honor in his profession. 

Bill Nelson:  Coach Nelson is completing his 11th year at Jamestown Public Schools, teaching at the Middle School/High School. He has been the Head Athletic Development Coach since his arrival, and also just completed his 7th year as the Head FB Coach of the Blue Jays, by winning the North Dakota Class A state championship. He spent the first 5 years of his career as a collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coach as NDSCS and NDSU, the last 17 have been in the public school setting at JPS, ABerdeen Central HS (SD), Barnes County North (ND), and Currently JPS. He has been married to his amazing wife - Steph for 23 plus years, they have two boys Will (17) and Bo (16).

 

Jermey Karger-Gatzow:  Jeremy has twenty years of collegiate cross country and track and field coaching experience. He is in his seventh year as the head track and field coach at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, MN. Currently, he devises training plans for sprints and throws. Since he became head coach, SJU has taken 26 athletes to the NCAA National Championships; their 2019 4x100 meter relay were National Champions with a time of 40.78 seconds. The sprinters have typically seen an improvement of 0.6 seconds improvement in the 100 meter dash and 1.3 seconds in the 200 meter dash which includes a new school record of 10.22 seconds in the 100. He also teaches Coaching Methodology in the Exercise and Health Science Department.

Prior to Saint John’s, Jeremy was the head coach for both men’s and women’s teams for cross country and track and field at the University of Minnesota-Morris (Division III) for twelve years. While at Morris, he started coaching every event and changed events based on available assistants. While at U of M Morris, his athletes competed at the National Championship in a wide variety of events (100 and 200 meter dash, the 4x100 meter relay, 1500 meter run, 5,000 meter run, high jump, shot put, javelin, and cross country).

Jeremy started his coaching career at Division II Bryant University in Rhode Island and was responsible for the sprints, jumps, and throws before heading to the University of Illinois in Chicago to earn his Masters Degree in Movement Science. He has coaching certifications from World Athletics (Level 5 sprints training) and USATF (Level 2 in sprints, jumps, and throws).

 

Adam Mead, NDSU - 

Assistant strength and conditioning coach Adam Mead works with North Dakota State University's women's basketball, women's soccer, women's golf, and track and field teams.

Mead came to NDSU in 2013 as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Bison football team.

A native of St. Francis, Minn., he graduated from Augsburg College in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in exercise science and is completing a master's degree in health and nutritional sciences from South Dakota State.

Mead is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning Association and holds sports performance certification from USA Weightlifting.

He previously interned at LSU for one summer in 2011, South Dakota State for two seasons from 2011-13, and Sanford Power in Fargo in summer of 2014.  

Jessica Gust, St. Louis Park HS:  Jessica Gust is in her 23rd year coaching and 13th year as the head strength and conditioning coach at St Louis Park High School in Minnesota. Coach Gust's responsibilities include in-season and off-season training for 26 high school sports as well as off-season training for middle school athletes. She also works as a biology and exercise science teacher and has coached several sports at the middle school and high school level. Coach Gust is a proud member of the MN NHSSCA Advisory Board and Vice President of the newly founded Minnesota Strength Coaches Association. In 2020, Coach Gust was recognized as the MN State Coach of the Year by the NHSSCA.

 

Missy Mitchell-McBeth:   MSEd, SCCC, CSCS, USAW, RPR-1, FRCms, NHSSCA Southwest Regional Director

Coach Mitchell-McBeth is the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Byron Nelson High School in Trophy Club, Texas. There she oversees the development of 12 different sports, over 500 athletes, and trains all sport coaches to assist in the weight room. Additionally, she serves as the Southwest Regional Board Member for the National High School Strength and Conditioning Association and is the owner of SaFe Iron, LLC a consulting company that designs custom training programs for teams looking to take their performance to the next level. 

Previously, she was the Senior Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at TCU for 7 years. There she handled the development of the Women's Indoor Volleyball, Women's Basketball, and Women's Golf programs. 

She holds a Master’s degree in Strength and Conditioning and is certified through the NSCA, CSCCa, USA Weightlifting, Functional Anatomy Systems, and Reflexive Performance Reset. 

Mitchell-McBeth has been married to Brian McBeth, the head baseball coach at Ponder HS, for 16 years. They have four dogs: Maui, Kona, Indigo, and Violet.

 

 

 

Phil Herkenhoff: a 2012 Minnesota State University Moorhead graduate, has been named the Sanford Health Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at MSUM. He began his duties on Nov. 2.

A native of Melrose, Minn., Herkenhoff was a tight end for the MSUM football team from 2010-12 after transferring from Ridgewater College.  He earned his bachelor's degree in exercise science, with a minor in strength and conditioning, from MSUM in 2012. He earned a Master's degree in educational leadership from Northern Arizona University in 2014.

Herkenhoff played for Steve Laqua during his first season as MSUM's head football coach in 2011 and also was an athlete under former head coach Travis Anderson.

Herkenhoff had served as the head strength and conditioning coach at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa, since 2015.

He was a student intern at MSUM in 2011-12 and also was an assistant strength coach for a year at Concordia College in Moorhead.