Students Present At Sports Medicine Conference

A group of faculty and students from the Exercise Science department attended the Southeast American College of Sports Medicine conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in February. Assistant Professor Jessica Kutz, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Jessica Peacock, Ph.D., took seven students that they mentored on research projects to allow the students to present their work.

Winston Davis and Hannah DeMeester’s poster was selected for the undergraduate awards session (top 8 overall). They were the only students from a liberal arts university selected and their work was presented against other large RO1 universities in the Southeast. Field hockey head coach Ashley Smeltzer-Kraft and her field hockey team graciously participated in a season-long study to allow for the data collection of that project.

The remaining posters also involved data collection from various Shenandoah athletes. Also in attendance and presenting was alumna Emily Heiston (Exercise Science ’15), who is currently completing work towards her doctorate in exercise physiology at the University of Virginia.

This trip was supported by the College of Arts and Sciences Funds for Excellence Grant and the Faculty-Student Collaboration Grant.