November 16, 2017

SVSU student earns best presentation honor at Midwest sports medicine conference

Saginaw Valley State University student Taylor Taraski's study on the mobility of Division II football players won high praise at a recent regional sports medicine conference. 

An exercise science major from Oxford, Michigan, Taraski won the award for Outstanding Undergraduate Poster Presentation for her presentation, "Movement Deficiencies in Division II Male Football Athletes as it Relates to Class and Position." She presented Saturday, Nov. 11 at the Midwest chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine conference in Grand Rapids.

Taraski’s study involved examining 43 student-athletes by measuring their physical performance during a number of exercises. The project concluded that identifying deficiencies in physical performances would allow for the utilization of training protocol aimed at enhancing performance.

Jeremy Knous, SVSU associate professor of kinesiology at SVSU, served as Taraski’s faculty adviser. 

Three other SVSU exercise science students also presented their research projects at the conference.

Kiersten Mead of Saginaw discussed her work, "Care Provider Physical Activity and Nutrition Discussions According To BMI." Anya Odabasic of Midland outlined her research on the "Patterns of Sedentary Behavior in Pregnant Women." Ashlyn Swafford of Tekonsha presented her work, "Examining Relationships Between Pregnancy Symptoms and Gestational Weight Gain."

Faculty mentors for these students were Meghan Baruth, assistant professor of health sciences; Samantha Deere, assistant professor of kinesiology; and Becca Schlaff, associate professor of kinesiology.