ITHACA, N.Y.— Cornell gymnastics head coach Melanie Hall announced the addition of Mike Brackmann to her staff Wednesday.

Brackmann joins the Big Red as an assistant coach after working at the club level for the past five years with Aerial Gymnastics Club in Downers Grove, Ill.

"We are excited to have Mike join the Big Red gymnastics staff," said first-year head coach Hall. "He brings a wealth of technical knowledge and experience with him and I know that he will make an immediate impact on our team.  His focus on the whole student-athlete and their well-being is one of his greatest skill sets and will be a huge asset as we move the program forward to the next level."

While with Aerial, Brackmann spent 2016-2018 as an assistant boys' coach where he developed athletes for the collegiate level. In 2018 he made the jump from assistant to a primary event coach for Aerial's girls' team. There, Brackmann dealt with day-to-day gym operations including scheduling and external communications.

Brackmann is a 2015 graduate of University of Illinois at Chicago where he earned a bachelor's of arts in teaching of history and was a four-year member of the Flames' men's gymnastics program.
While competing for UIC, Brackmann was named an Academic All-American and specialized in the pommel horse, rings and high bar.

"It is a great privilege to step into the Assistant Coaching position here at Cornell. Melanie and Paul Beckwith have done an incredible job creating and facilitating an environment for student athletes to grow both as competitors and as people and that is something I am looking forward to continuing with Melanie. I whole heartedly believe that looking into the future of the program we can continue to grow on the foundation that has already been established and bring the program to new heights," said Brackmann.