BRIDGEWATER, Va. - The Bridgewater College Athletics Department has announced new support staff hires for the 2026-27 season.  

The three new hires are Kacee Hooker assuming the role of Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning, Mikey Toms as Assistant Athletic Trainer and Ryan Costello also as Assistant Athletic Trainer.  

Hooker hails from Durham, N.C., and comes to Bridgewater College as no stranger. Hooker was a BC athlete and team captain on the track and field team where she competed in seven sprint and middle-distance events. 

While at Bridgewater, Hooker took on the role of Sports Performance Intern and stayed in the role for more than two years. She assisted with baseball, men's basketball, men's lacrosse, softball and football lifts and conditioning.  

After BC, Hooker went on to be a graduate assistant at Bryant where she continued her work in sports performance. She collaborated with athletic trainers in implementing injury prevention and rehabilitation programs while also designing all aspects of sports performance programs for women's bowling, men's and women's tennis and track and field.  

Then, before taking the job at BC, Hooker was a coaching assistant for a year at Duke where she assisted head sports performance coaches with implementing sport specific training programs for baseball, field hockey, women's golf, women's lacrosse, men's soccer, men's and women's swim and dive and wrestling. 

Mikey Toms is the next new addition to the athletics staff this upcoming athletics year. Toms comes from Grottoes, Va., and is also an alum from Bridgewater College. Toms just recently received his master's degree at BC in May 2026. His athletic training clinical experience is evident.  

Toms put in over 400-plus hours starting at BC in August 2024. He spent a year in that rotation before making his transition to Division I athletic training experience at James Madison University. There he performed duties of student-athlete injury management, acute management, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention. He put in 500-plus hours working with Division I athletes.  

After his time at JMU, Toms returned to BC while completing his master's degree. He finished up his clinical experience working with men's lacrosse and track and field.   

Also joining Toms and the athletic training staff is Ryan Costello. Costello is also no stranger to BC as he is a BC graduate with a master's degree in athletic training.  

Costello has spent many hours with BC athletic programs while also working a semester at James Madison University. He has certifications in First Aid and Basic Life Support as well as Bloodborne Pathogens. Most recently, at JMU, Costello conducted orthopedic evaluations for acute and musculoskeletal injuries while also servicing care based on sport demands and athlete position-specific needs.   

All three new hires have begun their role at Bridgewater.