Penn State Hires Alabama All-American Mia Nonnenberg As Assistant Coach

Penn State University has announced the addition of Mia Nonnenberg as an assistant coach for the 2021-2022 season. Nonnenberg and recent hire Austin Pillado round out Penn State’s coaching staff for the new season.

“I want to thank Coach Murphy and Penn State University for this incredible opportunity to contribute towards the rich traditions of the swimming and diving program.

I am truly honored to be returning to my home state asa a member of the coaching staff and I feel so fortunate to be working with, and learning from, the outstanding coaches, while helping the student-athletes reach their full potential.”

Nonnenberg comes to Penn State after spending last season as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan. While at Eastern Michigan, Nonnenberg assisted with developing training plans, recruiting, and coordinating the team’s travel plans.

From 2019-2021, she was a graduate assistant coach with the University of West Florida. While at UWF, she helped guide the women’s team to back-to-back New South Intercollegiate Conference titles (2020, 2021), which was a meet the women hadn’t won since 2016.

During the 2020-2021 season, she was also a team manager for the ISL’s Toronto Titans. There, she assisted with the overall operations that managed both Olympic and professional athletes from across the world.

As an athlete, Nonnenberg swam for the University of Alabama (2015-2018) and was a 3-year NCAA qualifier and All-American. While at Alabama, Nonnenberg competed at the 2016 US Olympic Trials in the 400 IM (13th), 200 fly (19th), and 200 IM (28th). After graduating, she immediately became a volunteer assistant coach with Alabama while completing her Master of Science in Physical Education and Human Performance.

In 2021, the men’s team at Penn State finished 7th out of 10 teams at the Big Ten Championships and 31st at the NCAA Championships, where they were represented by 7 athletes: 6 swimmers and 1 diver. The women were 10th out of 12 teams at Big Tens and failed to score at the NCAA Championships. Their lone qualifier, Marie Schoebel, finished 22nd in the 100 backstroke and 39th in the 200 backstroke.

Penn State had 3 athletes represented at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics: Shane Ryan (IRE), Gabe Castaño (MEX), and Melissa Rodriguez (MEX). Though program alumnus Shane Ryan doesn’t currently train at Penn State, he and Nonnenberg have a connection through the Toronto Titans.

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Alec Scott
2 years ago

Mia is a rising star as a coach but she’s an even better person. Penn State is very lucky to have her!

Swimfan95
2 years ago

She’s going to be an amazing addition to the PSU staff, her impact at Alabama as captain and at West Florida speaks for her. This teams gonna do B1G things!

DCSwim
2 years ago

She went to high school in PA glad to see her back in the area!

Saw Guerra
2 years ago

Well at least she isn’t dating the volunteer assistant like their newest hire

Austinismydawg
Reply to  Saw Guerra
2 years ago

LEAVE THE MAN ALONE! HES WINNING 🏆 NO SLANDER IN HIS NAME WILL BE TOLERATED!

Sam Hornblower
2 years ago

Did Penn State even beat Michigan State at B1G’s last year? How can a Power 5 school like PSU not score better?

Coachy
Reply to  Sam Hornblower
2 years ago

They are all Power 5’s at B1G’s. They are in the B1G…….

DMSWIM
Reply to  Sam Hornblower
2 years ago

Yes, in fact they beat three teams on the men’s side and three teams on the women’s side. Penn State’s facilities are significantly behind basically every other B1G school, so that may contribute to their relatively low placing.

coachofficialmi
2 years ago

“Last season” is a generous description. She was hired in the Spring and then left after July.