University Students Attend TACSM

By Lexi Magruder

This year the Texas chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (TACSM) met in College Station, Texas, on March 2-4. TACSM partnered with Texas A&M's Distinguished Lecture Series to offer a program of top-notch speakers from around the world. TACSM had much to offer to the seven students of Texas A&M University-Commerce who attended this conference. The professional talks covered many topics around exercise, health and disease. Students and faculty in the audience learned about the benefits of exercise on blood vessels, the past and present of population health policies, the current knowledge on concussions, and much more.

The highlight of this conference is the annual undergraduate Student Bowl competition, now in its 7th installment. The Student Bowl is a jeopardy style competition, showcasing the students' knowledge in all areas related to exercise physiology, biomechanics, and kinesiology. This year, there were 29 teams competing, representing 20 different universities across the state of Texas. The teams from each university put their dedication and months of studying to the test in this competition. The A&M-Commerce team consisted of Jonathan Marshall ‘16, William Holcomb ‘16 and Kelli White ‘16 under the instruction of their graduate student coach, Christopher Sataray ‘16. Our team did very well and carried Texas A&M University-Commerce far throughout the rounds of the game. It was a great learning opportunity for them as well as the audience, who were cheering for their teams.

Following the Student Bowl, students had the opportunity to showcase their research in the form of poster presentations. Christopher Sataray ‘16 presented his master's thesis research project on the effects of high intensity interval training, in conjunction with functional training equipment, on VO2max and peak power in recreationally trained individuals. William Holcomb '16 was honored as “Major of the Year.” Overall, TACSM was a great experience for the students to learn from professionals in the field, share their knowledge and apply this knowledge in competition.