USAF ACADEMY, Colo. — Former Mount St. Mary’s University head coach Justin Vink was named an assistant coach for the United States Air Force Academy men’s water polo team for the 2026 season.
During his time at Mount St. Mary’s, he was the men’s team head coach for three seasons (2023-25) and the women’s head coach for two seasons (2024-25). The 2025 season saw the men’s team nearly double its win total from the previous season. The women’s team finished with a winning season and also improved its win total in 2025.
Before getting elevated to the head coaching job, Vink served as the assistant coach for the team since their inaugural season. Working under head coach Alyssa Diacono, he helped lay the groundwork for the upstart program, resulting in winning seasons for both teams in the past year. On the women’s side, the team went 7-6 in their first season in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), qualifying for the postseason tournament. Student-athletes under their guidance garnered 10 all-conference honors, with one All-America honor and a Rookie of the Year. 24 members of the teams received All-Academic honors.
Previous credentials include a graduate assistantship at Salem University in West Virginia and coaching jobs with the club team at the University of Southern California, and at Harvard Westlake, John F. Kennedy and Fairview High Schools in California and Pennsylvania.
Vink honed his craft at Penn State Behrend, where he played driver for the Lions from 2011-2014. He competed every season, scoring 82 goals, registered 57 assists and tallied 56 steals. In his freshman campaign, he was pressed in as a goalkeeper, completing nine saves.
Originally from Los Angeles, Vink graduated from Penn State Behrend with a degree in communications in 2015 and a master’s in sport management from Salem in 2020.
Release courtesy United States Air Force Academy Athletics Communications
