Kinesiology and Health Education Students Take University of Texas at Austin to Victory - March 11, 2010

Undergraduate and graduate kinesiology and health education students at The University of Texas at Austin were big winners at this year’s Texas American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) conference, held March 4-5 in Houston.

At the conference, undergraduates participated in the Student Bowl, a Jeopardy-style competition made up of nine three-person student teams from universities around Texas.

“Maegan Williams, Anthony Winn and Trey Seward represented UT as Team Texas,” said Phil Stanforth, director of the College of Education’s Fitness Institute of Texas and lecturer. “After two rounds of questions in categories like anatomy, EKG, metabolism, patho-physiology, nutrition, strength and conditioning, our team was tied with A&M, which had $7,500, and trailing UT-El Paso, which had $9,700. It was a nail biter.

“Taka Tarumi, the UT team’s coach, had worked them hard to prepare them for this competition, but there were some moments when he was sweating in the audience. Taka is a Ph.D. student who’s in Dr. Hiro Tanaka’s Cardiovascular Aging Research Laboratory. Ultimately, Team Texas walked calmly away with a victory in Final Jeopardy, racking up $12,000 – which the winner doesn’t actually get - and will represent Texas at the national ACSM meeting in June.”

In addition, a traveling winner's plaque will come to the College of Education’s Department of Kinesiology and Health Education and remain there until the department defends its championship at next year's Texas ACSM conference, to be held in Austin for the first time since 1992.

In the research categories, students from Dr. Ed Coyle's Human Performance Laboratory received four of the 21 awards presented and $550 of the $5,400 that was awarded. 

Student Research Poster Presentation Awards went to Matt Pahnke, who won first place at the doctoral level, and Blake McLean, who won third place at the undergraduate level.  Il-Young Kim won a second place Student Manuscript Award and $150 and Josh Lee received a $400 Research Develop Award. Pahnke’s poster was titled “Serum sodium concentration changes are related to fluid balance and sweat sodium loss”; McLean’s was titled “The influence of different length between match microcycles on neuromuscular, hormonal and perceptual responses in professional rugby players”; Kim’s manuscript was titled Postprandial triglyceride and metabolic responses to moderate and low intensity exercises when daily non-exercise activity was carefully controlled”; and Lee’s paper was titled “Influences of skin and core temperature on cardiovascular responses to exercise.”

In addition to sweeping various awards categories, the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education also is well represented on the current Texas ACSM Board of Directors. Stanforth is serving as president, Tanaka as Basic and Applied Sciences Representative and Tarumi as Student Representative.

Founded in 1954, the ACSM is the largest sports medicine and exercise science organization in the world, with more than 20,000 international, national, and Regional chapter members.

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910