Olympic Strength & Conditioning

Our Staff

John Spurlock – Director of Strength & Conditioning

• Works directly with Volleyball, STUNT
• Phone: 859-323-5772
• Email: john.spurlock@uky.edu

Professional Experience

Spurlock was promoted to Director of Strength & Conditioning in July 2021. He previously held the position of Director of Strength & Conditioning for Olympic Sports. Prior to that, he was an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at UK from 2009-2012. As an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach, he worked directly with Men’s Tennis, Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, and Sprints/Hurdles/Jumps. Prior to that, Spurlock was a Graduate Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at UK. Before coming to UK, he did internships at the University of Dayton, Duke University, and Hanover College.

Ryan DeVriendt – Assistant Director of Strength & Conditioning, Olympic Sports

• Works directly with Softball, Gymnastics
• Phone: 859-323-5772
• Email: ryan.devriendt@uky.edu

Professional Experience

From May 2009 to May 2010, DeVriendt worked as an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach for UK Football. The Football team made the Music City Bowl that year. From January 2009 to May 2009, DeVriendt worked at Oak Athletic Development learning about the Functional Movement Screen. After college, DeVriendt was hired May 2007 to January 2009 as an Intern Strength & Conditioning Coach at UK, assisting with Football and Baseball. During those two years, the Football team made two bowls games (Music City Bowl and Liberty Bowl) and Baseball made an NCAA Regional (Michigan). During DeVriendt’s college years, he took two summers off to volunteer for the Strength & Conditioning departments at Illinois State University and North Dakota State University. During the summer of 2006 at North Dakota State University, DeVriendt worked with Football, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, and Wrestling. During the summer of 2005 at Illinois State University, he worked with Football and Women’s Basketball. From August 2003 to May 2007, DeVriendt served as an Intern Strength & Conditioning Coach for Central College assisting with all sports, while going to school and wrestling.

Brent Jones – Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach, Olympic Sports

• Works directly with Baseball, Rifle
• Phone: 859-257-4229
• Email: brent.jones@uky.edu

Professional Experience

Jones was hired as an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach in February 2022. From his hiring until December of 2023, he oversaw the Strength & Conditioning programs for Men’s Soccer, Women’s Soccer, and Swimming, while also leading the Sport Science efforts for both soccer programs. Prior to this, he held the position of Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at Virginia Tech (2021-2022). While at Tech, Jones worked directly with Women’s Tennis and Men’s Cheerleading, and was the first assistant with the Baseball and Wrestling programs. Prior to Tech, Jones spent a year as a Coaching Assistant at Kentucky (2020-2021), where he assisted with the Baseball, Men’s & Women’s Soccer, Swim & Dive, and Track & Field programs.

Aram Kumar – Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach

Works directly with Track & Field, Men’s Tennis, Cross Country

Kumar was hired as an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach in October 2024. Prior to being hired as an Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach, he spent time as a Coaching Assistant at Kentucky during the Summer and Fall of 2024. During this time, he worked directly with Track & Field, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Cross Country, Baseball, Softball, Gymnastics, and Swim. Before joining the Olympic Sports Department, Kumar spent a year working with the Kentucky Women’s Basketball team (2023-24) where he led the freshman development program and was responsible for the implementation of the Sport Science data collection and tracking.

Courtney Adams, Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach

Works directly with Men's and Women’s Soccer, and Swimming & Diving

Adams joined the University of Kentucky in November of 2023 and serves as the strength & conditioning coach working directly with both men’s and women’s soccer programs, as well as the swim programs. She came to UK after serving as the Assistant Director of Sports Performance at Bryant University. Prior to Bryant, she completed a graduate assistantship at Virginia Tech, where she worked with a variety of their Olympic sports teams including baseball, women’s soccer, and cheer and dance (2021-2023). Before arriving at Virginia Tech, Adams served as the Director of Strength and Conditioning at her alma mater, Bridgewater College (2018-2021).

Avery Bridges, Strength & Conditioning Coach

Position: Strength & Conditioning Coach

Professional Experience:

Bridges serves as a Strength and Conditioning Coach, primarily working with Men’s Golf, Baseball, and Stunt.

Prior to Kentucky, Bridges most recently has experience at Gardner-Webb University, where he served as a Professional Intern primarily supporting the Men's Soccer and Men's and Women's Tennis teams, while also assisting with Football. He later transitioned to a baseball-focused role as Director of Player Development and Assistant Baseball Strength Coach. Prior to his time at Gardner-Webb, Bridges also served as the Pitching Coach and Athletic Performance Coach for the Baseball team at Cleveland Community College. Bridges also served as a Student Athletic Performance Coach at Tusculum University, primarily working with the Football and Men’s Basketball teams.

Personal Information :

Bridges is from Shelby, North Carolina. He earned his bachelor's degree in Exercise Science from Gardner-Webb University and is currently completing his master's degree online at Gardner-Webb. He played three years of college baseball, two years at Cleveland Community College in Shelby, NC and one year at Tusculum University in Greeneville, TN.

Certifications :

1. NSCA CSCS

2. CPR/AED and First Aid (American Red Cross)

Emily Fey, Strength & Conditioning Coach

Position: Strength & Conditioning Coach

More Information

Works with Rifle, Baseball, Track & Field, Stunt and W Soccer.

Professional Experience

Emily was brought to UK as a Summer Intern Strength and Conditioning Coach assisting with Swim, Softball and Gymnastics, and will continue into the school year as a Coach's Assistant working with Rifle, Baseball, Track & Field, Stunt and W Soccer. Emily started her career at the University of Illinois as a volunteer intern from January – July 2023. She was also a graduate intern at the University of Georgia from August – December 2024.

Certifications

1. Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), National Strength and Conditioning Association

2. USAW – 1

3. CPR/AED/First Aid, American Red Cross

Personal Information

Originally from the city of Chicago, Emily attended the University of Illinois where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology (2022) and a Master’s Degree in Kinesiology with a focus in Strength, Conditioning and Fitness from the University of Georgia (2024). During this time, she worked with Illinois’ Strength and Conditioning Department where she assisted the training of multiple sports, primarily W Swim, Volleyball and Track & Field. After that, she served as a graduate intern at UGA primarily assisting with the training for Volleyball, M Tennis, Track & Field, and W Swim, along with other Olympic sports.

Kevin Konopasek - Director of Strength & Conditioning and Athletic Performance for Women’s Basketball

• Works directly with women's basketball

Kevin Konopasek (pronounced like Coo-No-Pah-Zick), former Indiana Director of Athletic Performance, has been hired as the University of Kentucky’s Director of Strength & Conditioning and Athletic Performance for Women’s Basketball, it was announced by head coach Kenny Brooks on Wednesday, June 16.

Morgan Schmidt - Strength & Conditioning Coach

Schmidt serves as a Strength & Conditioning Coach, working with Softball, Gymnastics, Volleyball, Swim, Cheer, and Stunt.

Schmidt came to UK as a Volunteer Intern Strength & Conditioning Coach in the summer of 2024, primarily working with Softball, Gymnastics, Volleyball, and Swim. Prior to UK, Schmidt worked as a Strength Coach Intern at Kansas City Strength and Conditioning from June through December of 2023.

Ally Frostman, Strength & Conditioning Coach

Frostman completed her bachelor’s degree in Strength & Conditioning at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She then spent one year interning at the University of Tennessee primarily working with Rowing, Softball, Soccer and Spirit prior to interning for the University of Kentucky in the summer of 2024.

Frostman works with Cheer, Stunt, Softball, Gymnastics, Swim, and Men’s/Women’s Soccer.

Lauren Martin, Strength & Conditioning Coach

Martin serves as a Strength & Conditioning Coach, working with Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Track and Field and Cross Country, Baseball, Cheer, and Stunt.

Martin came to UK as a Volunteer Intern Strength & Conditioning Coach in the summer of 2024, primarily working with Gymnastics, Softball, Swim and Dive, and Women’s Tennis. Prior to UK, Martin worked as the Head Strength and Conditioning Intern at Virginia Tech from June 2022 to May 2024, while also playing varsity lacrosse. Martin spent May through August of 2023 working at Duke University as the Head Strength and Conditioning Intern.

Our Facilities

Nutter Training Center

Shively Sports Center