Crystal McCullough

M.S.N. Nurse Education from Excelsior College

M.S. Exercise Science from Lenoir Rhyne University in 2022

C.S.C.S. - NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist

Lenoir Rhyne announces Crystal McCullough as the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for our growing Strength Staff. Crystal comes to us with a unique background where she served in the U.S. Army for 3 years as an Army Medic, then went on to complete nursing school and work as an RN for several years, while pursuing her coaching passion on the side.  In 2014, she chose to leave nursing and focus on coaching full time. 

Coach Crystal comes to us from the private sector where she has managed several successful gyms and spent the last 8 years working with a wide variety of athletes to include elite level weightlifters, professional combat sports athletes, potential Special Forces candidates, and high school athletic performance. 

She is one of only a handful of women who have achieved the status of Senior International Coach -- one of just four women in the United States to achieve this -- with USA Weightlifting and has coached multiple youth and junior athletes on the World and PanAmerican stage. She has also served as a Team USA coach for the 2021 Youth PanAmerican Weightlifting Team. She is an instructor for USA Weightlifting. She has certifications with USA Track and Field, Precision Nutrition, and CrossFit. 

Coach Crystal has been an athlete her entire life and most recently competed in powerlifting where she holds multiple Masters World Records in two different federations and two different weight classes. As a student-athlete, her sports were basketball and softball.