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Abbie Herkelman joined Nebraska Athletics as the Director of Olympic Performance Nutrition in June of 2026. Herkelman oversees the nutrition services for Nebraska volleyball, soccer, and women's gymnastics. She provides evidence-based performance nutrition education, individualized counseling, body composition assessment, travel nutrition planning, supplement evaluation, and fueling strategies designed to optimize athlete health, recovery, and competitive performance. She also collaborates with sports medicine, strength and conditioning, mental health and culinary services to support the holistic well-being of Nebraska student-athletes.
Prior to Nebraska, Herkelman served as Assistant Director of Sports Nutrition at the University of Oklahoma for five years, where she directed nutrition services for multiple programs, including men's basketball, women's gymnastics, volleyball, football, women's basketball, soccer, and tennis. She led fueling station operations, supervised sports nutrition staff and interns, coordinated training table initiatives, developed departmental protocols, and served on the multidisciplinary Athlete Wellness Team.
Before Oklahoma, Herkelman worked in the Sports Nutrition Department at the University of Arkansas, serving as the primary dietitian for softball, women's gymnastics, and women's soccer while also providing interim coverage for football. She began her collegiate athletics career at Kansas State University, where she managed daily fueling station operations and supported nutrition services for multiple athletic programs.
Throughout her career, Herkelman has supported numerous championship-winning programs, including three NCAA Women's Gymnastics National Championships (2023, 2025, 2026) and back-to-back Big 12 Women's Basketball regular season championships (2023, 2024) at the University of Oklahoma. During her time at the University of Arkansas, she also supported SEC Women's Soccer regular season championship teams (2019, 2020) and the 2021 SEC Softball regular season championship team.
Herkelman earned her Master's of Science in Kinesiology (exercise science concentration) from the University of Arkansas in 2020. She graduated from Kansas State with a Bachelor's of Science in Dietetics in 2018. Herkelman also played volleyball at Coffeyville Community College (graduating in 2015).