Clete McLeod, M.S., CSCS, is in his second year as the head strength and conditioning coach at Southeast Missouri State University. He came to Cape Girardeau after working as the assistant strength and speed conditioning coach at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Ill. McLeod began working the Southeast athletes in November.

"I'm really excited about the opportunity to be here, it's a great group of athletes and the programs seem poised to really take off," McLeod said.

At Northern Illinois, McLeod worked with the baseball, football, softball, wrestling, track and field and cross country teams since 2006. He also developed and executed training and nutrition programs for all NIU athletic programs.

Before working at NIU, he served as the assistant director for sports performance and sports nutritionist for Velocity Sports Performance in Naperville, Ill., from 2004-06. He coached amateur, collegiate and elite athletes, emphasizing speed and agility, explosive power development, balance and coordination.

In 2003-04, he was a sports medicine advisor at the United States Sports Academy in the Kingdom of Bahrain, near Saudi Arabia. He was a consultant, along with four other sport specialists, that worked to update the physical education program of Bahrain. He also trained national team athletes in Bahrain.

From 2001-03, McLeod worked as the assistant strength coach and sports nutrition counselor at his alma mater, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill. He was also a graduate assistant and course instructor at SIU. McLeod earned bachelor's degrees in Physical Education-Exercise Science and Food and Nutrition-Dietetics at SIU. He also earned a master's degree in Physical Education-Exercise Physiology.

McLeod enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school. He completed basic training in 1992 and was based in Fort Benning, Ga., as a member of the Army's Infantry Division. In 1993 he completed the Army's prestigious Airborne School.

McLeod is responsible for the strength and conditioning programs for all of the Southeast NCAA athletic teams. He is an NSCA certified strength and conditioning specialist, USAW certified club coach and USAT&F Level 1 coach.