The Latest Addition to Hopkins’ Athletic Arsenal: Coach Bianca Briones

Hopkins’ “athletics program has evolved,” according to Coach Rocco DeMaio ‘86, the Director of Athletics and Head Coach for Varsity Baseball. To him, it has become clear that Hopkins “[needs] a dedicated, professional approach to strength and conditioning.” It has also become clear that Briones, with her “energy and commitment,” is the answer to creating “a positive and motivating weight room environment.” 

Briones joins Hopkins’ athletic team while acting as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at Yale, having joined their athletics department in April 2024 to coach for their cross country, field hockey, women’s tennis, and softball teams. Briones says that her journey “to where I am today isn’t simple or short,” with her passion for athletic training stemming from her experience coaching high school and collegiate athletes while pursuing a graduate degree.

Reflecting on her previous coaching experience, Briones notes that she enjoys “spending extra time in the weight room, breaking down technique, and building programs that actually [help athletes] get stronger.” When commenting on her decision to join Hopkins’ athletics team, she said, “It’s refreshing to get back to the basics,” and that she “genuinely [loves] seeing athletes develop at every level.”

As of the 2025-2026 winter athletics season, Briones has already provided strength and conditioning coaching to the Varsity Girls Volleyball, Boys Water Polo, Ski Racing, and Cross Country teams. Lexi Schneider ‘26, who co-captains the volleyball team alongside Avani DiLuna ‘26 and Ava Salzano ‘26, found Briones to be a “thoughtful instructor [who] provides good feedback to make lifting safer and easier for our team.” She added that Briones made “working out, which is not always enjoyable for everyone, much more enjoyable.” In that respect, Salzano shared that Briones provided “constructive feedback to individuals with less experience in the gym just as much as those familiar with the exercises.”

Reflecting on the weekly training sessions he and his team had, water polo captain Jacob Richards ‘27 highlighted that Briones “kept teammates engaged in athletic development” in a sport where strength “is an absolute necessity” to be constantly “swimming, treading, and fighting.” Co-captain Derin Bahtiyar ’27 added that Briones “was incredibly nice, worked with a flexible schedule, and tailored the workouts to our sport’s specific needs,” setting a “foundation for us to grow our skills off of.” On the other hand, as the winter season has unfolded,Aiden Gomez ’28, a member of the ski racing team, found weight training sessions with Briones to be “insightful, [as] she emphasized proper form in all areas of weightlifting, something I didn’t really focus on before,” and that she “helped me in our team’s journey by providing a range of exercises to target multiple areas of the body, something crucial for [ski racing].”

Many of the athletes who have worked with Briones have expressed newfound confidence in their athletic abilities as well as hopes for further collaboration. Lexi remarks that overall, “I would just like to work more with [Briones]. Everything I and the rest of the team learned was helpful, and truthfully I just hope to have more sessions this upcoming spring season!” Gomez hopes to “learn more from Bianca in terms of general helpful lifting advice,” and he is looking forward to a “stronger season performance than last year,” adding that being stronger for ski racing means that he can have “more balance, greater control, and more power.” 

As Hopkins’ athletes are “getting stronger, moving better, and training more intelligently,” DeMaio is hopeful that Briones’s arrival will mark a shift towards “consistent, structured training across all teams.” As Briones said, “There’s nothing more rewarding than watching [athletes] grow in the weight room and then carry that success onto the field to excel and win.” With teams already seeing changes in both performance and confidence, Briones is expected to play a “key role in strengthening [Hopkins’] overall athletic culture” in the seasons ahead.