Swink enters her second year on staff at Saint Francis after serving as the assistant director of athletic performance since September 2023 and her first as the Director of Athletic Performance in 2024-25. In her first year in Loretto, Swink assisted with football and worked exclusively with women's lacrosse, water polo, and men's and women's golf. She will continue to work with those programs and lead a staff of two assistants and a graduate assistant.
Before coming to Saint Francis, Swink served as a Strength and Conditioning Intern at the University of Georgia from January 2023 to September 2023. She was a Strength and Conditioning Graduate Assistant at Syracuse University (August 2021-January 2023) and had an internship at the University of Virginia (August 2020-May 2021).Â
A 2018 graduate of James Madison University with a bachelor of science degree in health sciences, she is also 12 credits shy of earning her Masters of Exercise Science from Syracuse.Â
Swink is now one of four women to be in charge of the entire athletic performance department, which includes football, joining Sara Mackenzie (Cal Poly), Heather Mason (Ohio State), and Mary Beth George (Youngstown State).
"Having strong females, like Jessie, who don't shy away from opportunities to lead drives the advancement of the female sports performance professional," said George. "Hopefully, seeing more females in leadership positions will show other universities and female professionals that it is possible to lead successful programs."
Currently, 31 females are department heads of athletic performance, including non-football and Olympic only programs.Â
