NEW YORK ? Cat Wade, a former soccer goalkeeper at Oklahoma who has previous experience at Houston and Syracuse, has joined the Columbia staff as an assistant strength and conditioning coach.

At Columbia, Wade will work primarily with fencing, men and women's Golf, men and women's track sprinters and jumpers, archery, men's swimming, lacrosse, volleyball, women's tennis, and field hockey.

Wade comes to Morningside Heights after spending the past year at the University of Houston, where she worked primarily with the women's swimming and track programs.  At Houston, she worked alongside the 2008-09 Conference USA Women's Swimming Coach of the Year in Mark Taylor.

She also assisted with all the strength and conditioning aspects of the football team's pro-day training and assisted with the women's basketball program.

Prior to joining the Houston staff, she spent three years at Syracuse as a graduate assistant, ultimately earning her Master's degree in exercise science in June 2008. 

At Syracuse, she worked in the strength and conditioning department, managing the women's soccer strength and conditioning program and assisting with all aspects of the women's basketball strength and conditioning program.  Over three seasons, she also served as a graduate assistant with the women's soccer team, training the goalkeepers while assisting in several other areas within the program.

Wade also has experience working with Texas Select Volleyball, Athletic Evolution in Boston and Strength in Motion in Syracuse.  She holds CSCS, CPR and SCCC certifications.

A four-year starter in goal and two-time captain at Oklahoma, Wade holds the Sooners' records for goals against average, career saves, saves in a season and career shutouts.  She graduated in 2005 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.