OMAHA, Neb. – In March of 2021, Kourtney Stewart was a sophomore softball player at Hastings College studying biology and psychology.

In that setting, she entered a conversation that would alter the course of her life. Hastings was offering a human performance internship, and strength and conditioning coach Shandra Farmer (now Shandra Fahey) approached Stewart about it.

"She was like, 'Have you heard about this? You love being in here. You're one of the most dedicated people when it comes to the weight room. I think you'd be great at it,''' Stewart said. "I ended up getting it, and within the first two months I was hooked.''

That internship set in motion the journey that has landed the 25-year-old Stewart in Omaha, as the second full-time strength and conditioning coach in College of Saint Mary athletic history. She will work closely with the student-athletes who compete in the Flames' 12 athletic offerings.

"We're definitely excited to have her here,'' CSM Director of Athletics Robbie Shay said. "I think being around her and having conversations with her, she's going to do a great job relating to our student-athletes. In the long run that creates trust, and in that position having trust between the strength and conditioning coach and the student-athlete benefits everybody.''

The eldest of Ryan and the late Kristy Stewart's three daughters, Stewart is a graduate of Horizon High School in Thornton, Colo., where she competed in softball and swimming all four years. She played four years of softball at Hastings College, where she made great strides in the weight room, which led to the aforementioned internship.

"I was only required to do two hours a week in there,'' she said. "I think I was in there probably eight hours a week every week! I just loved the environment and I loved learning from other coaches and working with different kinds of athletes.''

Stewart parlayed that internship into a two-year stint as a human performance graduate assistant at Hastings under head coach Cole Fisher, whom she calls "my biggest mentor. That guy got me through a lot and had a lot of confidence in me as an intern and as a coach."

She earned her master's degree from Peru State College in organizational management in December of 2025. Her certifications include: Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), American Red Cross (CPR/AED) and USAW Level 1.

CSM's newest addition to the athletic department seeks to provide a path beyond just improvement on the field or court.

"I think I can say this with full confidence about the athletes I worked with at Hastings,'' Stewart said. "I want them to be the best versions of themselves, whether it's within their sport or outside of their sport. If I can teach them a few life lessons in the weight room that they can continue to take wherever they end up going, I've done my job.

"Obviously, the goal in the end is always to make the teams better. But if you can also make them better people, that's more important to me than anything.''

One area with which Stewart strives to be in tune with her athletes is dealing with adversity.

"Softball, baseball, they're games of failure,'' she said. "Playing softball, you're going to fail more times than you're going to succeed. But those failures and what you take away from them is what leads you to that success in the end.

"If I can instill that in one athlete or help bring them up on a bad day after they think they've failed – like, ok, what can we take away from this? Let's leave it behind now and we're going to take that takeaway and build on it.''

In Kourtney Stewart's view, it's the best of both worlds. Helping to improve her athletes' performances. And, helping to set them on the correct path in life after their time as Flames expires.

"Don't get me wrong. I love a gameday,'' she said, smiling. "I love being out there, being able to cheer on the athletes and see how their work pays off within the sport. But if I can turn around in two years after they leave the school and see that they're successful humans outside of it, that brings me just as much joy.''