Alana Burgess Elevated to Women’s Water Polo Head Coach
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY – St. Francis College Brooklyn Director of Athletics
Irma Garcia announced that
Alana Burgess has been elevated to women's water polo head coach. Burgess served as an assistant coach on staff last season and helped guide the Terriers to their most regular season wins since 2011 and most conference wins since 2012.
"We are excited to announce the promotion of Alana as our new women's water polo head coach. Coach Burgess has been a part of the St. Francis College family as an assistant coach and has displayed true Franciscan values during her time in Brooklyn Heights. With her experience as a coach and as a former water polo student-athlete, we look forward to her taking our program to new heights," said Garcia.
The Terriers highlighted the 2019 season with Burgess on staff during an impressive 3-1 home MAAC weekend from April 6-7. The Terriers collected a trio of conference victories as they defeated Villanova, La Salle, and VMI. St. Francis capped off that weekend with a 9-7 win over the Keydets on Senior Day.
Last season, a total of nine women's water polo student-athletes earned Association of College Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Scholar-Athlete honors. As a team, the Terriers compiled a 3.42 cumulative grade point average, which tied for 15th-highest mark in the nation. Additionally, nine student-athletes were named to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Academic Honor Roll for maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 or higher on a 4.0 scale.
"I am looking forward to continuing to work with the women's water polo team, this time in a head coaching role. We are excited for a positive preseason, where we can take our time to focus on conditioning and fundamentals without the initial pressure of competition. However, every time we step on the pool deck, our end goal will always be to qualify for our conference tournament. The girls know the expectations that coach Dimitrov and I both have for them, and this year we believe this goal is achievable," noted coach Burgess.
In addition to her role as women's water polo head coach, Burgess will serve as the Terriers' men's water polo assistant coach. St. Francis men's water polo head coach
Bora Dimitrov is on Burgess' women's water polo staff as an assistant coach.
Burgess joined the Terriers after spending time as a women's water polo assistant coach at San Jose State University. Burgess brings head coaching experience to Brooklyn Heights as she spent time as the head coach of the Menlo School girls' water polo team in Atherton, CA from August 2016 until March 2018.
At Menlo, she was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the water polo program, as well as developing and guiding student-athletes as they prepared for college. She also served as the host to the longest-running girls' water polo tournament in Northern California.
She received her Bachelor's degree in Public Administration from San Diego State University in 2013. Burgess was a four-year member of the nationally-ranked Aztec's women's water polo team from 2008-12.