Joining the staff in 2004, Amy Elsesser is in her fifth season as an assistant coach with Western Michigan, following an impressive collegiate career as a Bronco (1999-2002).
Elsesser assists head coach Terry Karwoski in all areas of Bronco gymnastics, including training, recruiting and travel. Working with all the athletes, she specializes on a day-to-day basis with those on the beam.
In her four years as an assistant, she has aided in the coaching of back-to-back MAC Gymnast and Senior of the Year recipients in Cherisse Marier (2006) and Jennifer Sturgis (2007). In addition, she has worked with four MAC Champions and has watched Western Michigan capture four All-MAC awards, while helping Marier and Sturgis advance to NCAA Regional competitions in both of their junior and senior seasons.
Elsesser was also an integral part of directing the Broncos to their third-ever Mid-American Conference Championship in 2006, a year in which WMU captured both the regular-season and tournament crown.
In 2007, Elsesser, as well as assistant coach Kevin Anderson, traveled with and coached Sturgis in the all-around competition at the NCAA Central Regional, filling in for Karwoski while on maternity leave.
As a student-athlete, the former Amy DeYoung was part of numerous record-breaking performances on vault, bars, beam and floor as an all-around competitor from 1999-2002. A four-year letterwinner, she was named Western Michigan’s Gymnastics Rookie of the Year in 1999. Elsesser was a top performer both in and out of the gym, receiving Mid-American Conference Gymnast of the Week honors in 2002, while earning MAC Honor Roll accolades in 2001-02.
Elsesser was named to the dean’s list all four years at WMU. She earned a bachelor’s degree in family studies from Western Michigan in 2003, graduating with honors. Elsesser is currently working towards her masters in counseling psychology.
Amy and her husband, Jeff, reside in Kalamazoo with their son Anderson (2).
