Men's Track and Field
- Title:
- Assistant Performance Coach
- Email:
- zp6435@princeton.edu
Zach Purcilly joined the Princeton Athletics staff as an Assistant Performance Coach in July 2023, he will be primarily working with Men’s and Women’s Track and Field/Cross Country. He spent the previous year as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at Temple University, working with the Track and Field, Gymnastics, and Men’s Soccer teams. In his time at Temple, he saw 3 athletes qualify for regional competitions in their respective sports.
Prior to Temple, he spent a year as an Olympic Strength and Conditioning Fellow at the University of Michigan, where his primary responsibility was to assist with the design and implementation of strength training and conditioning for 21 Olympic sports. He also developed and implemented training programs for the Wolverines Volleyball volunteer assistant coach who plays professionally for Athletes Unlimited. In addition, he assisted with the training of a former Wolverine, now professional Hammer/Weight thrower, primarily facilitating the use of velocity-based training. He had an additional stint as an intern during the fall 2019 semester prior to returning full time to Michigan.
Prior to Michigan, he served as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Ann Arbor Huron High School from 2020-2021. He directly oversaw the training for 13 sports at the Varsity, JV, and Freshman levels. He also spent time at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, serving as a Strength and Conditioning Intern in the spring 2018 semester, as well as the Throws Coach for the Track and Field team in 2018 and 2019.
He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science in 2018 as well as his Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology in 2019 from Eastern Michigan University where he threw Shot Put for the Track and Field team. He was a member of the 2017-2018 Mid-American Conference Triple Crown winning team and graduated with the 7th best Indoor Shot Put and 10th best Outdoor Shot Put marks in program history.
Purcilly is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist as well as a USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach.
