PRINCETON, W. Va. – Pace University baseball alumnus and former Pace Athletics Strength and Conditioning Coordinator Mike Bohlander '02 will begin a new professional journey, as the 11-year Pace employee was recently named the new Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Princeton Rays, an Advanced Rookie-level affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. Bohlander started with the Rays on May 23, 2016.
Known as "Bo" to many in the Pace Department of Athletics, he spent 11 years as the Strength and Conditioning Coordinator working with all of Pace's athletic programs. The 2002 Pace graduate also played baseball for four seasons as part of the Division I Setters program at the time. Bohlander ranks second on Pace's all-time home run list with 43 throughout his career, and is tied for first with a single-season record of 17 long balls. He also ranks second on the record list with 153 career RBIs.
Bohlander earned numerous awards throughout his baseball career, including All-New York State Baseball Conference First-Team in 2001, the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)-Converse All-Northeast Region Second Team in 2001, the ABCA-Rawlings All-Region Team in 2002 and was named to the NCAA Division I Independent All-Star Team in 2002. Bohlander was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 27th Round of 2002 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
Bohlander earned a bachelor's degree in psychology in 2002, and earned his master's in counseling in 2009. He is a National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA)-certified strength and conditioning specialist.
Pace athletic communications recently spoke with Bohlander about his new position with the Princeton Rays, as well as his experiences at Pace University.
What will be your main responsibilities/duties:
Implement strength and conditioning program for team, assist athletic trainers in rehabbing injured players.
You have built up a lot of experience at Pace both as a student-athlete and as strength and conditioning coordinator. Please share a little bit about your time at Pace in both roles:
I have many fond memories of my playing career at Pace. Above all else, it's the lifelong friendships that I made which I will cherish the most. As strength and conditioning coordinator, it has been amazing to witness not only the evolution of the athletes themselves, but the athletic department as a whole. To put it into perspective, our weight room back then is now the baseball locker room. Pace has come a long way in the last 15 years. I was glad to play a small role in that progress.
What will be some of your favorite memories and experiences that you take with you:
My fondest memories and experiences as a player were being able to compete at the Division I level against schools like UNC, Wake Forest, Duke, and Penn State. Also, setting the single season home run record in 2001 with 17.
My fondest memories and experiences as a coach revolve around the generations of athletes I've been able to assist in their development. Witnessing the evolution from freshman to senior year was a pretty special thing, especially when athletes surpass even their own expectations.
How has your time here prepared you for this next step:
Pace and the athletic department took a chance on me 11 years ago, and I will always be grateful for that. I was allowed to grow into my role, and always felt supported by the staff and coaches. In my 11 years as a college strength coach, I've pretty much seen it all. Each year brought a new set of challenges, which forced me to grow. It wasn't always pleasant sometimes, but I learned a lot about the job, as well as people, which will prepare me for new role.
What do you look forward to most in your new position:
I'm looking forward to once again being a part of professional baseball. I can draw from my own experiences with the White Sox to help this current generation of Rays minor leaguers. I've gone through everything a new draft pick will experience after signing a contract, which puts me in a unique position to be able to relate.
What do you think you will miss most about Pace: The thing I will miss most about Pace is the people. I've spent the majority of my adult life working at Pace. In that time, I've met and worked with some of the greatest people I have ever met. There have been many personal highs and lows in the last 11 years, but I always felt supported. I'd be remiss not to mention
Mike Winn, who has been there for every step of my journey at Pace. I cannot thank him enough for the help and guidance over the years. It's hard for me to put into words how much the many generations of Pace athletes have meant to me. I have learned just as much from them as they have from me, and for that I will forever be grateful.
What will be the most difficult part of transitioning to this new role: Pace has become my home and the people my family. It's never easy leaving a place that has touched you this deeply, so I anticipate there will be plenty of growing pains. I take solace in the fact that the athletes are in great hands with
Troy Thompson and
Phil Ryder. The future is bright!
Pace University is an NCAA Division II member of the Northeast-10 Conference that sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports. In the Spring 2016 semester, 68% of Pace student-athletes achieved a grade point average of 3.0 or higher and eight teams have been honored with the NE-10 Team Excellence Award since 2011. Pace teams have made 12 NCAA appearances since 2011. In 2015-16, the department unveiled a multi-million dollar facility upgrade that includes two new turf fields and a new softball field. In addition, the new state-of-the-art 14,010 square foot Ianniello Field House recently opened with new locker rooms, new strength and conditioning facilities and sports medicine component.For all information regarding Pace University Athletics, log on to
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