Cares and Concerns of the Female Strength & Conditioning Coach
Jeanne Rankin has been the Director of Strength & Conditioning at Eastern Connecticut State University since September 2019. At ECSU, Rankin works with all 16 varsity sports.
Before ECSU, Rankin was an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at the University of Kentucky from 2013-2019. At Kentucky, Rankin worked primarily with Men’s & Women’s Swimming and Women’s Soccer. Rankin also worked with Men’s & Women’s Track & Field from 2013-2015. At Kentucky, she was lucky enough to work with UK Swimming’s first individual national champion, an Olympic swimmer, and a Women’s Track & Field program that finished 2nd at NCAAs (a team that included 100m Hurdle national champion and eventual world record holder, Keni Harrison).
Prior to Kentucky, Rankin was the Assistant Director of Strength & Conditioning at the University of Missouri — Kansas City from 2009-2013. At UMKC, Rankin primarily worked with Softball, Women’s Soccer, Track & Field, Women’s Tennis, and Women’s Golf. From June 2011 — October 2011, Rankin became the Interim Director of Strength & Conditioning and took over programming for all teams in the department, in addition to taking care of the day-to-day operations of the weight room.
Rankin’s first paid job in the field was at the University of Arkansas, where she worked from 2008-2009. While at Arkansas, Rankin worked primarily with Women’s Tennis, Women’s Golf, and Women’s Cross Country (all top-20 programs nationally).
Before Arkansas, Rankin interned in the weight room at Oklahoma State University 2007-2008 while she completed her M.S. in Health & Human Performance.
As an athlete, Rankin started in the inaugural Women’s Soccer McDonald’s/POWERade All-American game. She played her first two years of college soccer at the University of Colorado and was part of the team that won the Big XII Championship in 2003. Rankin fell in love with the weight room while working with her Strength & Conditioning Coach, Sarah Ramey. After transferring to Oklahoma State, Rankin decided to focus her studies towards becoming a professional in this field. Rankin was a part of a team at Oklahoma State that took the program to new heights after finishing the 2006 season top-10 in the country, in addition to making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history.
Rankin credits her success to all the coaches, athletes, and co-workers she has had along the way. In college, she had coaches who pushed her out of her comfort zone, and that taught her how to deal with challenges. She shows up to work every day excited to have the opportunity to work with the athletes she is handed…they make her a better coach and a better person. She has also been lucky to have had so many great co-workers who have cared about her and invested time and money in her.
Jeanne Rankin resides in Connecticut with her wife, Vanessa, who is a Women’s Soccer Coach at the University of Connecticut. Their family is rounded out with two dogs (John and Toby) and a cat (Kitty Cat).
