Carrie (McCambridge) Karkoska enters her fifth season on The Plains. The Columbus, Ohio, native was named assistant coach to the Auburn swimming and diving program prior to the 2009-10 season after two seasons as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach. Working closely with PK in his weight room, Karkoska[apos]s primary area of focus was with the Auburn diving, cross country and gymnastics teams from 2007-2009.

Working with swimming and diving is nothing new to Karkoska, who was an accomplished diver herself while in college.

Karkoska lettered all four years on the diving team at Purdue and was a four-time All-America honoree. For her work on the boards, she was also honored twice as the Big Ten Diver of the Year. She is still the Purdue record holder on the platform, having a score of 346.05. In 2004, Karkoska swept all three boards at the Big Ten Championships. She returned in 2006 to take the title on the platform for her fourth conference championship.

Prior to coming to Auburn, Karkoska spent a year as an intern in strength and conditioning at Purdue, working mainly with the men[apos]s and women[apos]s tennis, men[apos]s and women[apos]s swimming and diving, cheerleading, soccer and softball teams.

Recently, Karkoska was honored by the Collegiate Strength & Conditioning Coaches Association (CSCCA), winning the 2009 John Stucky Award. The award is given in honor of Coach John Stucky and recipients are chosen based on characteristics and skills that they[apos]ve shown throughout their work in the strength and conditioning profession.

Karkoska earned her undergraduate degree from Purdue in 2006 in organizational leadership and supervision. She received her master[apos]s in exercise science at Auburn in August of 2009.

She is married to Auburn strength and conditioning coach Bryan Karkoska.