CLARION, Pa. – Clarion University interim head swimming & diving coach Bree Kelley announced Tuesday, July 11, that Max Niggel, a two-time team captain and former PSAC Freshman of the Year at Edinboro and a native of Polk, Pa., will join the Golden Eagles coaching staff this year as an assistant coach.
“I’m proud to welcome Max to our coaching staff at Clarion,” Kelley said. “With his experience working and competing in the PSAC, he will be a terrific asset to our program. I’m eager for him to get to know more about our tradition here and get started coaching our team. He’s a very knowledgeable and driven coach and I’m sure he’ll get tremendous effort and results for our team. I am very excited to work with him and keep our program improving.”
Niggel spent the last two years as an assistant coach at Gannon, taking the position in November 2015. One of his primary duties was administering the teams’ strength & conditioning programs. Niggel is an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and is also certified as a PCA Double Goal Coach and a TRX Instructor. Thanks in part to Niggel’s work in creating goal-setting and tracking methods, the Golden Knights’ team GPA’s were 3.2 for the men and 3.5 for the women in his time. He was also integral in raising funds for the team.
Before heading to Gannon, Niggel was a successful student-athlete at Edinboro. A two-time captain of the Fighting Scots, he set two school records and made nine NCAA B cuts in his career. He was the 2008 PSAC Freshman of the Year and the 2009 Erie Bay Swim champion. From there, he spent time as a student assistant at Edinboro from 2012-13 and has worked as a swim camp counselor there since 2009.
After his time at Edinboro, Niggel spent two years as a Fitness Professional, and later a Fitness Director, at Best Fitness. He tracked the progress of more than 300 clients enrolled in personal training programs and coached other fitness professionals on how to best work with clients. He then spent time as the Health and Wellness Director at the Grove City YMCA in 2015 before going to Gannon.
Niggel earned his B.S. in Health and Physical Education from Edinboro in 2013. He is currently pursuing his Masters of Business Administration at Gannon and expects to complete it this fall.
GOLF TEAMS WINS PSAC TEAM GPA AWARD
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. — The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) released its list of teams to earn Top Team GPA Awards today, with the Clarion men’s golf team claiming the title for its sport in 2016-17.
The Golden Eagles boasted a team GPA of 3.547, the best among the eight PSAC institutions that compete in the sport. That mark was the best among all men’s sports at Clarion and second overall only to the volleyball team GPA of 3.561.
Now in their sixth year of existence, the awards are issued across 21 sports. With eight different institutions claiming an award, it ties the most in league history (2013-14).
The awards, released at the conclusion of the academic year, honor the teams with the top cumulative team grade point average in each of the sponsored sports within the PSAC. The league hosts 23 championships, however, for the award purposes, indoor and outdoor track & field are counted as a single sport.
