Wittenberg Announces Athletics Strength and Conditioning Program Staff

SPRINGFIELD, OH – Supporting all of Wittenberg’s intercollegiate athletics teams, the University is back up to full speed in the Bates Strength Center after elevating Nate Phillips to lead the Strength and Conditioning program in February 2025 and bringing two additional staff members on board to join him over the summer months.

The Bates Strength Center, which opened in 2019, is the jewel of Wittenberg's strength, fitness and conditioning program, where student-athletes can improve their speed, power, and strength. Phillips, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Eric Nelson, and Graduate Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Nick Racketa are utilizing the space (and others around Wittenberg’s bustling Health, Wellness & Athletics (HWA) Complex) to prepare Wittenberg student-athletes for a promising 2025-26 school year.

“I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to lead the strength and conditioning department at Wittenberg University,” Phillips said. “As an assistant coach for the last two and a half years, I have seen tremendous growth in the department and in the student-athletes we work with each day. However, there is still more to be done, and I am fired up to continue striving to reach new heights with our athletics teams and student-athletes.”

Phillips joined Wittenberg's staff as an assistant strength and conditioning coach in 2022. In his new role, Phillips is the head of strength and conditioning for the Tiger football, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's volleyball, women's volleyball, men's lacrosse, and women's soccer teams. Nelson is taking the lead for the Tiger baseball, softball, field hockey, golf, and cross country teams, and he is assisting with football, and Racketa is taking the lead for the Tiger track and field, swimming and diving, tennis, women’s lacrosse, and men’s soccer teams.

Before arriving at Wittenberg, Phillips completed an internship with the football strength and conditioning staff at the University of Pittsburgh in the summer of 2022 after spending a year as an intern with the Strength and Conditioning Department at Robert Morris University (2021-2022). A native of Wheeling, West Virginia, Phillips earned his bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology from West Liberty University in 2021. While attending West Liberty, Phillips was a wide receiver on the Hilltopper football team.

Phillips is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and a Strength and Conditioning Coach Certified (SCCC) by the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA).

A 2022 graduate of Edgewood College, Nelson played baseball for four years. He made 35 pitching appearances, tossing 79 innings and finishing with a career record of 7-9. Nelson graduated from Edgewood in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in biology. He interned at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with the football team in their strength and conditioning department during the summer of 2024, followed by a year as a sports performance graduate assistant at Wagner College for the 2024-25 school year. In that role, Nelson worked with baseball, field hockey, women's water polo, fencing, and football.

A native of Girard, Ohio, he earned an associate degree in sport and exercise studies from Columbus State Community College in 2022 and a bachelor’s degree in sport coaching from The Ohio State University in 2024. While at Ohio State, Racketa completed an internship in strength and conditioning, gaining experience with track & field, swim & dive, women’s ice hockey, and the dance team. He holds his CSCS certification and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in sports administration at Wittenberg.

Written By: Ryan Maurer & Cindy Holbrook
Photo By: John Coffman