Women's Rowing
- Title:
- Strength and Conditioning Coach
- Email:
- mpifer@scarletknights.com
Michelle Pifer joined Rutgers Athletics in September 2021 as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach and was promoted to Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning in 2023. She is entering her sixth season working directly with the Rutgers Field Hockey and Women's Rowing programs.
Michelle brings eight years of collegiate strength and conditioning experience with expertise in athlete performance enhancement, long-term athletic development, and sport science integration. During her first season with Rutgers Field Hockey, the Scarlet Knights captured the 2021 Big Ten Tournament Championship, marking the program's first Big Ten Tournament title since Rutgers joined the conference. Since 2021, Field Hockey has consistently maintained a national ranking among the nation's top 15 programs. Under Michelle's tenure with Women's Rowing, the program has continued its national ascent, improving from a No. 14 national ranking in 2021 to as high as No. 7 in 2025 while remaining among the nation's top-ranked rowing programs.
Committed to evidence-based performance enhancement, Michelle integrates leading sport science technologies into daily training and athlete monitoring. She oversees the implementation and analysis of Catapult GPS, WHOOP, Hawkin Dynamics Force Plates, EliteForm velocity-based training, and Whistle Performance athlete management software. These technologies provide objective data from both training and competition to inform individualized training prescriptions, optimize short and long-term performance planning, monitor athlete readiness, and minimize injury risk.
Prior to Rutgers, Michelle served as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Pennsylvania, where she designed and implemented performance programs for Women's Soccer, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Track & Field, Men's and Women's Fencing, Women's Squash, Men's and Women's Tennis, Softball, and Cheerleading. She began her collegiate coaching career at Swarthmore College, where she developed and implemented strength and conditioning programs for Women's Soccer, Women's Basketball, Softball, Men's and Women's Tennis, and the Cross Country/Track & Field programs.
Michelle earned both her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Exercise Science from Bloomsburg University. A champion bodybuilding and powerlifting competitor, she is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach with Distinction (RSCC*D) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). She also holds Precision Nutrition Level 1 and Functional Range Conditioning (FRC) certifications.
Michelle is an active contributor to the Strength and Conditioning profession through education and knowledge sharing. She presented on the national conference stage at the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCa) National Conference in 2025 and the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) National Conference in 2026. She remains committed to advancing the profession through continued education, applied sport science, and the implementation of evidence-based best practices in high-performance sport.
CAREER TIMELINE:
2023-Present – Rutgers University • Associate Director of Strength and Conditioning
2021-22– Rutgers University • Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
2019-21 –University of Pennsylvania • Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
2018-19 – Swarthmore College • Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach
PERSONAL:
Hometown: Lansdale, PA
Education: Bloomsburg University - B.S. Exercise Science
Bloomsburg University - M.S. Exercise Science
