Simon Elfrink
Staff Writer
selfrink@murraystate.edu
Murray State Athletics has added Kelly Cosgrove as the director of strength and conditioning of olympic sports.
Senior Associate Athletics Director Matt Kelly expressed his excitement and the excitement of the whole athletics department at Cosgrove’s arrival.
“We are very excited to welcome Kelly to the Racer Family,” Kelly said. “She has an energy and high level of skill that we are excited to have with our Olympic sports programs. She will be great with our coaches and student athletes as we continue to compete for championships the Racer way.”
Cosgrove comes to Murray State after a two-year endeavor at Stony Brook University, where she helped the soccer, swimming and diving and softball teams in all aspects of athletic performance and nutrition. Before her time at Stony Brook, Cosgrove spent two years at Dartmouth College as an assistant strength and conditioning coach for six different teams. She was also a strength coach in her home state of New York at the Professional Athletic Performance Center in Garden City from 2015-16.
“I saw the position [at Murray State] open online, and it just seemed like a good opportunity for me to jump into more of a leadership role,” Cosgrove said. “It’s been very busy. It’s been a different type of fall than were used to, because of a lot of reasons. Kind of different vibe with the whole scheduling process and figuring out how to work things back into training. But other than that, it’s been pretty good.”
Cosgrove has been certified by the NSCA as a strength and conditioning specialist and holds a Reflexive Performance Reset Level 1 certification. Cosgrove earned a degree in applied exercise science from Springfield College in 2015 before going for a master’s degree, which she obtained at Stony Brook University in 2020.
After her career as a competitive gymnast ended in 2011, Cosgrove adjusted her lifestyle to pass along her knowledge of strength and conditioning to today’s student athletes.
“I am thrilled to have this opportunity at Murray State,” Cosgrove said. “My passion is working with student athletes and to see them realize their full potential. I want to thank Kevin Saal, director of Athletics, and Matt Kelly, senior associate AD, for this opportunity to join the Racer Family.”
Anyone that wants to learn more about Cosgrove and the Olympic sports she’ll be directing this year can get to know the Racers a little better by going on Instagram and taking a look at @murraystatestrength.