2017 End of Year Awards Banquet
The Iowa State Sports Medicine Department celebrated another fantastic year on Sunday, April 23, 2017 by holding our annual Athletic Training Golf Outing and Awards Banquet.
Staff and students began the day enjoying the weather and fellowship at Homewood Golf Course. The groups were lucky enough to be joined by NATA Hall of Fame member Frank Randall and his wife Jolene. The low score of the day was a 3-under par by now 3-time defending champions Alex Harrison and Zach Kuchta.
Following the afternoon of golf; the event moved to Heartland Hall in the Jacobson Athletic Building for a dinner and the academic, clinical and Letter awards. The ISU Letterwinners Club presented our students, completing their second year, with their initial letter including an Iowa State Varsity Letterwinners Jacket. Our graduating seniors were gifted the official Iowa State Letterwinners ring.
Several athletic training scholarships and awards were presented to our most outstanding students in the classroom and in their professional preparation in the clinical settings.
The Athletic Training Program Academic Award is given each year to students who carry a 3.0GPA through the previous spring and fall semesters while maintaining full time student status; this award is also given to any student who makes a GPA improvement of 0.75 from one semester to the next. This year, we had 31 of our 50 students receive this academic honor and the overall GPA of our 50 undergraduate students is 3.24! The following students received the academic award and students with a * following their name earned a distinguished GPA above 3.50:
Emma Baumann*, Megan Blomberg*, Zeb Callahan*, Dana Cash, Grace Dierenfield*, Meredith Dierks, Brooke Dirks*, Emily Eaton*, Kristen Eiles, Trevor Elmitt, Mason Finn, Caitlyn Greenspan, Haili Hansen, Kaitlin Hora, Kevin Hughes, Josiah Kisker, Quinten Morrell, Amanda Morton, Alec Nichols*, Katie Primrose*, Alexis Ring, Emily Rocha*, Jesse Rogge*, Kelly Sabers, Daniel Shultz, Quintin Smidzik*, Ben Spurgeon, Kenan Todd*, Tabitha Toland*, Jordan Viers, Kevin Wontroba.
The Robert Watkins and Mary Swartz Athletic Training Achievement Award was established in 2000 by former athletic training student and loyal supporter of our program, Bill Watkins. The goal of this award is to recognize students in the Athletic Training Program who have contributed a strong work ethic, leadership and service to their future profession. The 2017 Robert Watkins/Mary Swartz award and $1,667 scholarship winners are:
Megan Blomberg
Amanda Morton
Quintin Smidzik
The Frank Randall Distinguished Athletic Training Student Award was established in honor of former Head Athletic Trainer Frank Randall who served in this position for 29 years. This award is presented to the Iowa State Athletic Training Student who exemplifies dedication, work ethic, accountability and excellence in the field of athletic training. The 2017 Frank Randall Award winner is:
Trevor Elmitt
The Unsung Hero Award sponsored by Bill Watkins is an award that recognizes a student who demonstrates the qualities to a future professional, but may not be in the spotlight of the program. The 2017 Unsung Hero Award is:
Kristen Eiles
The Tom Johnson Memorial Athletic Training Student Scholarship was established by many Iowa State Athletic Training Alumni in memory of Tom. This $1,000 scholarship is presented to the Iowa State Athletic Training Student demonstrates a dedication to athletic training and a passion for helping people. The 2017 Tom Johnson Scholarship winner is:
Daniel Shultz
The 2017 Graduating Seniors were recognized and presented with an Iowa State monogrammed professional portfolio as a graduation gift. The class and their future plans are listed below:
Emma Baumann - Pursuing graduate school options.
Dana Cash - Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer, Iowa State University Recreation Services. Also assisting with research on boxing as a form of therapy for patients with Parkinson's Disease and Veterans with PTSD.
Meredith Dierks - Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer, University of New Haven (Conneticut). Pursuing graduate degree in Healthcare Administration.
Kristen Eiles - Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer, Concordia University (Wisconsin). Pursuing graduate degree in Applied Exercise Science.
Trevor Elmitt - Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer, Memphis University. Pursuing Masters degree in Sports Commerce.
Bailey Faber - Exploring Options and plans to travel through Europe.
Caitlyn Greenspan - Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer, Florida State University Campus Recreation. Pursuing a graduate degree in Exercise Physiology - Sports Science.
Alex Harrison - Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer at Missouri State and Southwest Baptist University. Pursuing graduate degree in Athletic Training.
Cece Hester - Assistant Athletic Trainer, The Madison Scouts - Bugle and Drum Corp.
Kevin Hughes - Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer, East Carolina University.
Josiah Kisker - Pursuing graduate school options.
Cody Kliever - Pursuing graduate school options.
Zach Kuchta - Pursuing graduate school options.
Brenden Kuhn - Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer, University of South Dakota
Christian Novy - Pursuing Graduate School Options
Emily Rocha - Attending South Dakota University in the DPT program.
Jesse Rogge - Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer, Cal State East Bay. Pursuing graduate degree in athletic training from San Jose State University.
Ben Spurgeon - Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer, Minot State University Pursuing Masters degree in Sport Management.
Tabitha Toland - Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer, Southern Illinois University
Blaine Wessels - Exploring options.
Congratulations to all of our Seniors and 2017 Award Winners!
The final award of the evening was to recognize Jim Nespor for his many years of dedicated service to the Iowa State Athletic Training and Sports Medicine Department. Jim will continue to serve the University in his role as Chief Physical Therapist at the Thielen Student Health Center Physical Therapy Clinic; but he has decided to retire from teaching after 30 years and more than 20 years of teaching Therapeutic Modalities to our athletic training students! Thank You Jim, for the many, many years of teaching, mentoring and leadership!
