Windward School | Windward Athletic Directors

Athletic Leadership

List of 4 members.

Tyrone Powell

Athletic Director

x 1064

tpowell@windwardschool.org
Vanessa Nygaard

Senior Associate Athletic Director/Girls Basketball Program Lead

x 1049

vnygaard@windwardschool.org
Frances Jones

Associate Athletic Director/Track & Field Program Lead

x 1067

fjones@windwardschool.org
Richard Brisacher

Associate Athletic Director/Multi-Sport Coach

x 1066

rbrisacher@windwardschool.org

Athletic Medicine

List of 3 members.

Meredith Hamel

Lead Athletic Trainer

301-391-7127 x 1055

mhamel@windwardschool.org
Bio
Meredith earned both her B.A. in Physical Education as well as her M.A. in Kinesiology: Sports Management from Cal State University, Long Beach and received her certification from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Board in 1996. In addition to being a certified athletic trainer, Meredith also holds certifications as an American Red Cross Instructor as well as a Holistic Health Practitioner.

Prior to working at Windward, Meredith worked with the USA Women's National Water Polo Team as an athletic trainer and massage therapist. She also worked as the Head Athletic Trainer for the Long Beach Stingrays, a women's professional basketball team in the American Basketball League.

Meredith began her career at Windward in 1998. In addition to her duties as Head Athletic Trainer, Meredith is a member of Windward's Safety Committee.
Wayne Northrup

Athletic Trainer

310-391-7127 x 1056

wnorthrup@windwardschool.org
Bio
Wayne joined the Windward community in 2004. He holds duel roles as both assistant athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach. Wayne became a certified athletic trainer in 2002 and was certified through the National Strength and Conditioning Association Certification Commission as a strength and conditioning specialist in 2006. Wayne received his Bachelors of Science in Sports Medicine degree from California State University, Fresno in 2002. He is currently working on his Masters of Science Degree in Physical Education at Azuza Pacific University.

Wayne's prior athletic training experience dates to 1996 and includes internships at two high schools, Los Medanos Junior College, and Fresno State. He was assistant athletic trainer for club sports at University of California, San Diego from 2002-04, where he was responsible for all high impact sports.
Edgar Gonzalez

Athletic Trainer

egonzalez@windwardschool.org

Peak Performance

List of 1 members.

Kermit Cannon

Director for Peak Performance and Community Wellness

x 1063

kcannon@windwardschool.org

Coaches

List of 12 members.

Brenton Chan

Boys and Girls Golf Program Lead

bchan@windwardschool.org
Frances Jones

Associate Athletic Director/Track & Field Program Lead

x 1067

fjones@windwardschool.org
Hasan Muhammad

hmuhammad@windwardschool.org
Vanessa Nygaard

Senior Associate Athletic Director/Girls Basketball Program Lead

x 1049

vnygaard@windwardschool.org
Nils Nielsen

Girls and Boys Volleyball Program Lead

x 2074

nnielsen@windwardschool.org
Luke Pechmann

Swim Program Lead

lpechmann@windwardschool.org
Bio
Luke Pechmann, a Minnesota native, quickly rose to the top in the region becoming a two-time Minnesota state high school champion and obtaining All-American Honors. During his senior year, he made his first junior national cut and made finals on a national level. Pechmann and his coach had a crazy idea to see if he could make a U.S. Olympic Trial cut in less than a month and half of training before the deadline. With a carefree attitude on the day of the meet, Pechmann played ultimate frisbee for 3 hours and went on to reach his first Olympic Trial time at the age of 17, making him one of the youngest sprint qualifiers in the 50 Freestyle.

Pechmann went on to swim for the NCAA champions at the University of Arizona to be inspired by his Olympic swimming teammates. In 2010, he ranked top 100 in the world for 50 and 100 Freestyle. Pechmann took time off from swimming after college, but he knew he had untapped potential. Since then he has been studying biohacking methods for becoming stronger, healthier, and the fastest swimmer in the shortest amount of time. Currently, he trains with legendary sprint coach Dave Salo with the elite Olympic level Trojan Swim Club. Pechmann will be competing in his third Olympic trials applying innovative training techniques to fulfill his Olympic dream.
Omar Pena

Baseball Program Lead

opena@windwardschool.org
Bio
Omar Pena has been involved in the Windward Baseball program since the summer of 2011. He served as the Associate Head Baseball Coach from 2012-2016 before being appointed Baseball Program Lead in spring of 2016.

In addition to his years of experience coaching for Windward, Omar also served as an Assistant Baseball Coach at the California Institute of Technology for 2016. He is a former professional baseball player, who was drafted in the 16th round by the St. Louis Cardinals, where he played up to the Class A Advanced level.

Omar received a Bachelor of Science degree in Leadership from Northeastern University.
Colin Pfaff

Boys Basketball Program Lead

cpfaff@windwardschool.org
Federico Rolon

Boys Tennis Program Lead

frolon@windwardschool.org
Ryan Shelven

Girls Tennis Program Lead

rshelven@windwardschool.org
Debbie Skaggs

dskaggs@windwardschool.org
Ben Thomas

bthomas@windwardschool.org

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Athletic Leadership

List of 4 members.

Tyrone Powell

Vanessa Nygaard

Frances Jones

Richard Brisacher

Athletic Medicine

List of 3 members.

Meredith Hamel

Wayne Northrup

Edgar Gonzalez

Peak Performance

List of 1 members.

Kermit Cannon

Coaches

List of 12 members.

Brenton Chan

Frances Jones

Hasan Muhammad

Vanessa Nygaard

Nils Nielsen

Luke Pechmann

Omar Pena

Colin Pfaff

Federico Rolon

Ryan Shelven

Debbie Skaggs

Ben Thomas