Nadalie Walsh named USU Gymnastics coach

LOGAN, Utah – Utah State Vice President and Director of Athletics Scott Barnes announced Friday that Nadalie Walsh has been named USU head gymnastics coach.

Walsh comes to USU after six seasons as head coach at Ball State and becomes the third head coach in USU’s program history. She replaces Jeff Richards, whose contract was not renewed in April.

“We are thrilled to have Nadalie be our head gymnastics coach. She is a well-respected head coach and has had success everywhere she has been throughout her coaching career. Her outstanding leadership style and ability to recruit high-quality student-athletes will be invaluable to our program. It is evident that Nadalie cares a great deal for the student-athlete’s success in competition, in the classroom and in life. We are happy to have her be a part of the Aggie family. I would also like to thank Associate Athletics Director for Student Services Dr. Brian Evans and the screening committee for all of their efforts,” Barnes said.

While at Ball State, Walsh coached six different gymnasts to the NCAA Regional Championships for a total of 10 appearances, as well as four Mid-American Conference individual event champions, including two on bars, one on vault and one on floor. She also coached one MAC Senior Athlete of the Year, as part of eight all-MAC gymnasts during her tenure at Ball State.

“My family and I are very excited about being given the opportunity to become Aggies,” Walsh said. “Utah State’s gymnastics program has an incredibly rich history of success, and I cannot wait to get started in giving my all to the university and the student-athletes. I am extremely impressed with all Utah State has to offer, as well as with all the wonderful people I will get to work with in the department. By partnering with the dedicated administration and passionate student-athletes, we can again build a successful Utah State gymnastics program.” This season, Walsh guided BSU to its highest team Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) in school history. Her teams are also in the BSU history books for breaking the school record for team vaulting score (49.000), as well as tying the individual school record for top score on floor with a 9.95 by Denasiha Christian in 2013, as part of coaching nine individuals into the top five marks in school history.

Off the floor of competition, Walsh’s teams earned 12 academic all-MAC accolades. Ball State had a perfect Academic Progress Rate (APR) in 2009 as well as a near 1.000 APR score in the other five years of her tenure.

Prior to Ball State, Walsh spent four years (2003-07) as the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, her alma mater. In 2007 her final season at UW-Oshkosh, Walsh guided the Titans to the National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) National Championship. The NCGA is the governing body for college gymnastics for NCAA Division III schools. It was UW-Oshkosh’s second national title in the program’s history and the first since 1989. The title win by the Walsh-led Titans in 2007 halted a six-year reign by UW-La Crosse.

In four seasons at UW-Oshkosh, Walsh mentored the program from not qualifying for nationals in her first season, to finishing sixth at the NCGA National Championships in 2004, to third-place in 2005 before winning the 2007 national title. Walsh was named the NCGA Coach of the Year in 2006 and also earned Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletics Conference Coach of the Year accolades in 2005 and 2006, as well as Division III West Regional Coach of the Year in 2005, 2006 and 2007. During her UW-Oshkosh tenure, Walsh coached 13 All-Americans, including nine in 2007. She also mentored five UW-Oshkosh team school records, as well as numerous individual marks.

Before becoming UW-Oshkosh’s head coach, Walsh was an assistant coach for the Titans from 2001-03. She coached the 2000 Division III national floor champion as well as the national runner-up in 2001, in helping the Titans to a second-place finish at national in 2001.

A native of Kewaskum, Wis., Walsh earned her bachelor’s degree in exercise science and fitness from UW-Oshkosh in 2001. She and her husband, Victor, have three children Aiden (11), Ireland (9) and Valient (8).

Fans can follow the USU Gymnastics’ Twitter and Facebook pages – Twitter: www.twitter.com/USUGymnastics and Facebook: Utah State Gymnastics. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program at twitter.com/USUAthletics or on Facebook at Utah State University Athletics.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!