POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - Assistant Director of Athletics for Sports Performance Alice Read has announced the hiring of Tristen Schiafo as the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Vassar College Athletics Department. Schiafo comes to Vassar following a one-year stint at Merrimack College with a Strength and Conditioning Graduate Fellowship.

"I am very excited to have Tristen (Coach Coop) joining our staff. Coach Coop brings a strong foundation in strength and conditioning as well as experience competing in the liberty league as a student-athlete. His expertise in utilizing data to further enhance the student-athlete experience will be a huge addition to our programs", stated Read.

Schiafo was responsible for the direct oversight over the programming, implementation and management of year-round advanced training systems for NCAA Division I Men's Volleyball, Women's Rowing and Men's Soccer student-athletes. He also assisted with the training systems with the Men's Ice Hockey team and assisted sports medicine with the return to play protocol following significant injuries or surgeries.

Prior to his time at Merrimack, Schiafo spent time with the University of Louisville Sports Performance where he led training sessions with the Women's Volleyball team and assisted with sessions with Olympic, professional and collegiate athletes throughout his time in Louisville. He also had an internship at Cornell in 2022 where he worked with over 10 different sports on the performance testing/monitoring and program interventions and also assisted on the organization of the Fueling Station and Fueling Guide while helped supply student-athletes with the ability to recover, restore and rebuild.

Schiafo graduated from Ithaca College in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science: Strength and Conditioning along with a minor in Sport and Exercise Psychology. He earned his master's degree in Exercise and Sport Science: Strength and Conditioning from Merrimack in 2023.