Hayden Completes Kanewa-Hermelyn's Coaching Staff
8/21/2025 12:55:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan women's gymnastics head coach Maile'ana Kanewa-Hermelyn announced Thursday (Aug. 21) the hiring of Quest Hayden as an assistant coach.
Hayden joins associate head coach Scott Sherman and assistant coach Cali Hager to complete Kanewa-Hermelyn's first coaching staff since being named the head coach in July. Hayden spent one year in Ann Arbor (2019-20) as a volunteer assistant under Bev Plocki and was named the WCGA Assistant Coach of the Year and helped the Wolverines to a 2020 Big Ten regular-season title. While at U-M, Hayden assisted on vault, uneven bars and floor and helped organize the recruiting lists.
"We are thrilled to welcome Quest to the Michigan women's gymnastics family as our new assistant coach," said Kanewa-Hermelyn. "His incredible talents in recruiting and his genuine, positive personality make him the perfect fit for our program. Our student-athletes are more than excited about working with him and, with his addition, our coaching staff truly feels complete."
"I am extremely excited to join this coaching staff and talented team at the University of Michigan, one of the most prestigious gymnastics programs in the NCAA," Hayden said. "The opportunity to work alongside passionate coaches, support dedicated student-athletes, and represent the block M is truly a dream come true. I look forward to working hard each and every day to uphold and build upon the Michigan gymnastics championship culture and legacy. Go Blue!"
Hayden joins the Michigan staff after spending the 2025 season at Ohio State, where he was the lone coach on both vault and floor and helped the Buckeyes to 14 career best scores between the two events. His vault squad ranked as high as 14th nationally, while the floor team ranked 19th. Hayden also secured two five-star recruits and two four-star recruits in his one year with the program.
Before 2025, Hayden was an assistant coach at Iowa for three seasons, where he led the uneven bars squad and helped the team to its highest NCAA Regional finish in recent history. The Hawkeyes ranked as high as 15th nationally with two team NCAA regional appearances and four individual regional qualifiers. Six individuals also earned All-America honors in his three-year stint with the program. Hayden was also heavily involved in the revamping of recruiting strategy, meet scheduling and aiding the team in academic success.
Hayden spent one season at North Carolina, leading the uneven bars team to the highest average in program history. He also assisted in practice planning and strength training, while helping the Tar Heels sign two five-star recruits.
Hayden got his start in collegiate coaching at his alma mater, Penn State, in 2019, assisting in the planning of both the vault and floor workouts and helping the team jump up into the top 25 in the national rankings.
Before his time in collegiate gymnastics, Hayden spent three years at Centre Elite Gymnastics in Pennsylvania and one year at Gym America in Michigan. While at Centre Elite, Hayden helped on uneven bars, floor and vault and developed drills for each event. Hayden was one of two main coaches on uneven bars for levels 8-10 at Gym America and assisted on both vault and floor.
Hayden competed for Penn State's men's gymnastics program from 2015-18. During his collegiate career, he served as captain his senior season and was a member of the Nittany Lions' 2015 Big Ten Championship team, competing on four events during the team's title run. He competed in the NCAA team finals that same season on high bar. Hayden followed that campaign with a 2016 NCAA team and individual championship appearance on the pommel horse. He graduated from Penn State in 2018 with a degree in psychology.
Hayden was a member of the 2013 United States National Team, competing at the 2013 P&G Championships, finishing third in the horizontal bar and the all-around.
