McKayla Barber, BS
McKayla is a first year Masters student currently working
with Milligan Women’s Basketball. She is originally from Columbus, Indiana, but
completed her undergrad here at ETSU in the Exercise Science program. After
playing four years of collegiate volleyball and earning her degree, McKayla
spent the last year assisting the volleyball program at Milligan College before
starting the Master’s program.
Nathan Barger, ATC
Nathan Barger is entering his first
year as a graduate assistant athletic trainer and works with the ETSU men’s
track/field and cross country programs. Barger received a Bachelor of Science
degree in Athletic Training from Carson Newman University in December 2012.
While at Carson Newman, Nathan worked with the Football, Men’s Soccer, and
Baseball teams. He also interned at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, FL
where he covered a multitude of AAU National Championship Tournaments for a
variety of sports including Volleyball, Wrestling, Baseball, Softball, and
Mens/Womens Basketball. Barger, a native of Sweetwater, TN, is a member of the
National Athletic Trainer’s Association and was the recipient of the Tennessee
Athletic Trainers Association Undergraduate Student of the Year and the Carson
Newman Student Athletic Trainer of the Year awards. He is currently pursuing a
Master of Arts degree in Exercise Physiology and Performance at ETSU.
Garett Bingham, BS
Garett is a first year Master’s student, currently working
with the women’s soccer program at ETSU.
Originally from Mesa, Arizona, Garett completed is undergraduate work at
Arizona State University earning a Bachelor’s of Science in Kinesiology.
Jada Buckner, BS
Jada, a second year Masters student from Loudon, TN, earned
her Bachelors in Exercise Science at Nova Southeastern University in Ft.
Lauderdale, FL. Here she also played basketball and co-captained her senior
year. She worked with Milligan Women’s Basketball last year and will be working
with ETSU Women’s Basketball program this year.
Kevin Carroll, BS, CSCS
Kevin Carroll, originally from High Point, North Carolina,
is a first year Masters student at ETSU working with the Women’s Volleyball
program. He earned a BS in Exercise Science- Strength & Conditioning from
Appalachian State University. During his time at ASU, Kevin worked with several
Olympic Sports as a volunteer intern under Robbie Ormsby. He also was a
Strength & Conditioning Intern for football at The University of Texas at
Austin in the summer of 2013. Kevin is certified through the NSCA with the CSCS
certification. Looking forward, Kevin hopes to become a Strength &
Conditioning coach for Olympic Sports at the collegiate level.
Aaron Casey, BS, USAC-2
Aaron is a second year Master’s student. Originally a
Kingsport, Tennessee native, he developed a passion for sports and exercise
science during his undergrad years. He graduated from ETSU with a BS in
exercise science. He has worked with the ETSU Women’s Soccer team for the last
two years, and was recently promoted to Head Strength Coach for the team. Aaron
has a passion for all things bicycle racing, and plans to pursue his own goals
on the bike, as well as build his coaching skills and expertise with endurance
athletes in the future.
Josh Christovich, BS, SCCC
After growing up outside of Washington D.C. Josh Christovich
earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Kinesiology with a concentration in
Exercise Science and a minor in Coaching Education from James Madison
University. While at JMU Josh worked as a student intern coach for the strength
and conditioning program under Greg Werner where he got experience with a
variety of teams including basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball,
and cheerleading. Josh recently earned his SCCC certification from the CSCCa.
He is a first year Masters student at ETSU and will be working with softball.
Christine Coniglio, BS
Christy is a second year master’s student from Erie, PA. She was a collegiate athlete on the Clarion University Women’s Soccer team in Pennsylvania, after which she transferred to ETSU to finish her undergraduate degree. She also spent 5 years performing ocean rescue operations working alongside of both police and firefighters. During her time with ETSU sports science she has worked with both men’ soccer and ETSU ROTC program. She is also is PADI scuba certified diver as well as enjoys bow hunting and spear fishing.
Austin Driggers, BS, CSCS
Originally an Abilene, Texas native, Austin is beginning his
second year as a master’s student at ETSU. He earned a B.S. in Applied Health
Science from Wheaton College, where he played football and baseball. He has
served as a strength and conditioning intern at the Olympic Training Center in
Lake Placid, and currently holds a post as a minor league strength and
conditioning coach in the Kansas City Royals baseball organization. At ETSU, he
works with the baseball team, while focusing his research efforts on the
quantification of sport-specific performance factors and the development of
rotational power.
Chase Edwards BS, ATC
Chase is a first year Master’s student at ETSU, and
currently serves as the Athletic Trainer for the Men’s Soccer Team. Chase is
originally from Unicoi, TN and completed his undergraduate degree at Emory and Henry College in Virginia where he also played football. Following the
completion of Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education: Athletic Training he
served on staff at Emory & Henry College for a year as the Assistant
Athletic Trainer working with Women’s Soccer, Cross Country, Men’s Basketball,
and Baseball. Chase plans on obtaining his CSCS and CES certifications while attending
ETSU. Chase wishes to continue his education following his Master’s program by
applying to Physical Therapy School.
Jacob Goodin, BS
Jacob, originally from Olympia, WA, is now a first-year
Master’s student at ETSU after earning his BS in Kinesiology from Westmont
College where he competed in cross-country and track and field, earned NAIA All American
Honors, was voted to team captain, and met his lovely wife, Lisa, also a
runner. After graduating Jacob worked
for two years as a strength coach, personal trainer, head cross-country and
track and field coach, and adjunct physical education and lab instructor at
Westmont College. His research interests
include unique strength training programming considerations for distance and
middle distance runners, transfer of training effect from strength-based
programs to distance and middle distance runners, and the correlation between
ground reaction forces, rate of force development, and middle distance
performance. He currently works with the
Cross Country and Women’s Tennis teams.
Cody Haun, BS, CSCS
Cody is a first year Master’s
student at ETSU and will be working with the ETSU baseball team. He was born
and raised here in East Tennessee and had the opportunity to obtain his BS in
the Exercise and Sport Science program here at ETSU. Beginning his passion for
training and injury prevention after his own athletic career was hindered with
injuries from high school football, he is very excited to begin his journey in
the strength and conditioning field and very passionate about becoming one of
the best in the field. His primary research interests are mechanisms of
skeletal muscle hypertrophy, strength training for injury prevention, and the
management of CNS fatigue within the macrocycle. He plans to continue his
education to obtain a Ph.D. after finishing the Master’s program at ETSU,
become a strength and conditioning coach at the Division 1 or professional
level and also aspires to teach at a University one day.
Michelle Howe, BS, CSCS, USATF-2, USAW-1, RRCA
Michelle Howe is currently the strength and conditioning
coach for the ETSU jumpers and assists in coaching the jumpers and multi-eventers. She holds a graduate assistant position with
the track and field team while she completes her master’s degree in exercise
physiology and performance. Originally
hailing from Lakewood, WA, she completed her BS at Western Washington
University in Bellingham, WA where she also competed in track and field as a
sprinter and hurdler. She aspires to
pursue a PhD in sport physiology and eventually coach collegiate track and
field.
Bethany Lender, BS
From Altoona, Pennsylvania, Bethany is a first year Master’s
student at ETSU. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree here at ETSU in
the department of Nutrition and Food Science. During her time
there, she was able to work with Team Up, a program reaching out to local
high school to educate students on the importance of physical activity and
healthful foods. Bethany has been on the ETSU Track and Field team for the
past four years, so athletics and sports science has always been important to
her. Eventually, Bethany wants to become a Sport Nutritionist,
working with collegiate or professional track and field athletes.
Isaiah McBride BS, CSCS, USAW-1
Isaiah is a 2
nd year Master’s student, currently
working as the head strength and conditioning coach with the Milligan Men’s
Basketball program as well as assisting with Milligan Women’s Basketball.
Originally from Princeton, MN, Isaiah earned his Bachelor’s degree in Exercise
Science with a minor in Nutrition from Winona State University. Previous
experiences include working with the ETSU Men’s Golf team and the University of
Wisconsin (intern), having the opportunity to work with Men and Women’s
Basketball, Men and Women’s Ice Hockey, and professional NHL athletes. Upon
graduation, McBride hopes to become a successful strength and conditioning
coach at the collegiate level.
Sean Pickel, BS
Sean is entering his first year as a Master’s student after
completing his Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science. He is an east Tennessee
native, having attended high school locally at Science Hill. After spending his
first few years of college as an Honors English major at ETSU, Sean decided to
change paths and transferred to UT Knoxville in order to play for a Division 1
collegiate rugby team challenging for national honors. After working for several
years as a personal trainer, the time seemed right to head home and complete a
degree which was more suited to his interests: one with a focus on sports
performance. Having spent a year’s internship with the ETSU men’s soccer team,
Sean looks forward to applying the knowledge he has gained to building the
athletic abilities of the ETSU Rugby team, a unique opportunity in the United
States. His primary interest lies in optimal training for contact/collision and
field sports performance, and understanding the wide variety of physiological
demands in these activities.
James Range, BS, CSCS
James Range, from Gray, TN, is a first year Masters student
working with the Men’s Basketball program at ETSU. James has a BS from ETSU in
Exercise Science and was also the Exercise and Sport Science Club president
during his senior year. James has spent the last three years as an intern
strength and conditioning coach with the University of Memphis (football),
University of North Carolina Charlotte (Olympic sports), and Carolina Panthers.
Last year James was a graduate assistant strength coach for Clemson University.
He was in charge of the Women’s Tennis strength and conditioning program and
assisted with the Women’s Soccer and Rowing programs.
Steven Reis, CSCS, USATF-1, USAT-1, USAC-3
Steven is a second year master’s student at ETSU and will be
working with Milligan College’s cross country team. He is originally from Columbus, Ohio, and
earned his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University. Steven is an active endurance athlete
himself, and hopes to continue working with endurance athletes upon graduation.
Aaron Thomas, BS
Aaron is a 2nd semester Master’s student, currently working
as assistant strength coach for ETSU Men’s Tennis. He is originally from
McMinnville TN. He went to East Tennessee State University where he received
his BS in Exercise Science and served as an intern for ETSU’s Men’s Soccer
team. After college, Aaron moved to Chattanooga and worked as a performance
coach for D1 Sports. Then moved to North Miami Beach to work as a performance
coach at Bommarito Performance. Aaron has trained over 200 professional
athletes, including several Super Bowl Champions. His primary interests are
acceleration and speed development in athletes, change of direction mechanics,
and strength/power development.
Kyle Uptmore, BS, USAW
Kyle Uptmore is a native of Waco, TX and received his
Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology degree from Sam Houston State University in
Huntsville, TX. Kyle’s previous
performance coaching experience was spent at a private facility called BlackBox
Strength and Conditioning in Fort Worth, Texas where he worked with Olympic
Weightlifters, American Football, and Track and field athletes. He has hopes in the future to work in a
private professional setting someday. As
a first year Masters student, Kyle will be assisting with ETSU Men’s Soccer
team this fall.
Aubrey VanGoethem, BS
Aubrey is a native of Crystal Lake,
IL and completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Health Promotion with a minor in
Foods & Nutrition at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. During her
time at Appalachian, Aubrey was given opportunities to work in the wellness and
public health fields, focusing specifically on worksite and employee wellness.
While she enjoys the wellness aspect of health and fitness, highly competitive
athletics, coaching, and strength and conditioning have always been at the
forefront of her life. Aubrey played competitive soccer and volleyball
throughout her adolescence and helped to coach skill development clinics for
both sports, as well as coach Girls on the Run. Aubrey is a first year graduate
student at East Tennessee State University in pursuit of her Master of Arts
degree in Exercise Physiology and Performance, during which time she will be
working with the ETSU women’s volleyball team.
Leslie Winstead, ATC
Leslie Winstead is a native of
Knightdale, NC and received her Bachelor’s degree in Athletic Training from the
University of North Carolina Wilmington in May 2013. Winstead is a member of
the National Athletic Trainer’s Association and recipient of the Terry L.
Middleswarth’s Athletic Training Student Leadership Award, and the North
Carolina Athletic Trainers Association’s iLead Scholarship. During her
undergraduate career she worked with Division 1 Baseball, Women’s Soccer,
Swimming and Diving, Women’s Basketball and high school football. She also
served as an intern for USA Baseball’s Tournament of Stars and 14U Championship
games in Cary, NC. Leslie is entering her first year as a graduate assistant
athletic trainer and works with the ETSU women’s track/field and cross country
programs. She is currently pursuing a Master’s of Arts degree in Exercise
Physiology and Performance at ETSU.
