Fox Cities News

Ella McDevitt, a graduating senior at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh (UWO) and veteran of the U.S. Air National Guard, is preparing to begin graduate studies at The Citadel military college in South Carolina this fall. McDevitt has balanced her final undergraduate year majoring in strength and conditioning with two summer internships, one at Norfolk Academy and another with Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 in Virginia Beach.

McDevitt’s background includes six years of service in the Air National Guard, including deployments to Saudi Arabia and Qatar from 2021 to 2022. She worked as a munitions technician and line delivery crew chief, training airmen on delivering bombs to the flight line. Her parents are both Air Force veterans who served in avionics.

Her path to UWO began after working as an assistant strength coach at a gym run by Shawn Anderson, a UWO alumnus. “In January of 2023, I was working with a UW-Oshkosh alum named Shawn Anderson at his gym in Madison, which was called the Badger Den at the time (now Ritual Barbell). I was an assistant strength coach there working with adults who had performance goals and the general population. Shawn told me he went to UWO and that it has a strength and conditioning major. I didn’t even know that was a specific major; I thought everything was just kinesiology. Once I heard about UWO’s program, I thought, I only have my associate’s, and it’d be great to get my bachelor’s. I looked into it, and I thought, yeah, I’m going there.” Anderson graduated from UWO in 2015 with a degree emphasizing strength and conditioning; the university began offering its dedicated Strength and Conditioning major in 2021.

McDevitt credits her interest in strength and conditioning to participating in powerlifting competitions while deployed overseas: “What drew me to strength and conditioning was the powerlifting competition called the 500 club when I was deployed. I had to hit a combined 500 pounds with our bench, squat and deadlift. It was just something fun that kept us motivated, and it pushed me to learn more about lifting and programming. That’s what got me into coaching. Once I started learning the science behind it, I got really into it. Even when I was in the military, I knew I wanted to work in a performance-related field.”

At Norfolk Academy this summer, McDevitt worked as an intern focused on football and middle school programs: “One of them is at Norfolk Academy, a private high school in Virginia. It’s an eight-week strength and conditioning internship focused on their football and middle school programs. I help lead warm-ups and cooldowns, coach athletes on their lifting technique and assist with exercise programming. I also work with middle school students and help out with logistics like setting up equipment and monitoring lifts.”

Her second internship involved supporting elite military personnel: “The second internship is at Navy EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Group 2, where I’m part of a tactical strength and conditioning team. I coach alongside the strength coaches who work with elite military personnel, helping operators maintain their physical readiness for deployment. I also built programs for their athletes specific to each operator.”

Craig Biwer serves as director of UWO's Strength and Conditioning Program: “Ella is eager to learn as much as she can in her clinical experiences,” said Biwer. “Her maturity, attention to detail and desire to do things the right way is an example that all of our future strength and conditioning students should follow.”

McDevitt says her coursework prepared her well for real-world experiences: “At UWO, we get a lot of hands-on experience. In clinicals, we do assessments, run sessions, coach athletes and write programs. So going into these internships, it wasn’t a shock. I had already done a lot of what I'm doing now.”

She also acknowledged Biwer's guidance during her studies: "Craig (Biwer ... ) helped me find both of my internships. He was a huge help... The program sets a high standard..."

UWO launched its dedicated Strength & Conditioning major in 2021; students gain practical experience through clinical placements involving assessments, coaching sessions, athlete programming development—skills that directly support graduates seeking roles such as those McDevitt has pursued.

For more information about related academic offerings at UWO:

- Kinesiology & Athletic Training: https://uwosh.edu/kinesiology/

- Strength & Conditioning: https://uwosh.edu/kinesiology/strength-conditioning/