A former standout thrower on the Eastern Washington track and field team, Zack Nielsen has been the director of athletic performance for Olympic sports at EWU since May of 2017.
He is responsible for the design and implementation of comprehensive strength and conditioning plans for Eastern's women's basketball, soccer and jumpers in track and field. He also assists with the football program.
Previously, Nielsen was the assistant director of strength and conditioning at Northwestern State in Louisiana from March of 2016 through to May of 2017. He completed his master's degree in health and human performance at Northwestern State in May of 2018.
While at NSU, he worked with men's basketball and women's soccer, as well as incoming freshman football players. He managed graduate assistants, interns and the school's Demon Strength Internship Program, as well as the Demon Nutrition Station.
He served as a graduate assistant at EWU from June of 2014 to March of 2016, and was an intern in the department prior to that. He received his bachelor's degree at Eastern in 2014 in exercise science, and completed his coursework in 2017 for his master's in health and human performance from Northwestern State. Nielsen is a certified strength and conditioning specialist, and is USAW level 1 and USATF level 1 certified.
He was a three-time All-Big Sky Conference performer for the Eagles as a four-year letterwinner in track and field from 2009-2014, and won the league's 2014 hammer throw championship. He was honored on the Big Sky All-Academic three times, and he ranks in the top three in school history in the hammer (203-5) and weight throw (63-9 1/4).
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