Pac-12 students are known for their athletic success, but they are also impressive, complete people with outside interests, diverse backgrounds, extracurricular activities, interesting families, busy schedules, and full lives. The release for this week's competition is focused on who Washington State students are in the classroom and community.
WSU MEN'S TRACK & FIELD COMPETE STUDENT-ATHLETES
ACADEMIC SPOTLIGHT
Forrest Shaffer knows how to navigate the 28 barriers and the seven times over the water hazard of the 3000m steeplechase. His personal-record best time of 8:51.73 was run at the 2016 Stanford Invitational meet. But just days before that accomplishment, Forrest won an award at WSU's Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA) where he was among 235 students presenting over 200 posters. His poster, “Ion Channel Profiling in Vagal Afferent Neurons,” was one of four in the Molecular, Cellular and Chemical Biology division that won second-highest honors. Forrest's interest in neuroscience is closely associated with his running: studying the communication between brain and body in the areas of feeding, metabolism and pain. For the past three years Forrest has worked in the WSU Neurobiology lab with his mentor, Dr. James Peters, an assistant professor in the Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience department. Forrest's research studies how neutral mechanisms control food intake: how the vegus nerve innovates the gut and the brain and how it controls what is eaten, when it is eaten and why humans get hungry. Forrest plans to obtain a doctorate degree in neuroscience at WSU and continue his research.
COMMUNITY CORNER
Travis Pickett is a big guy with a bigger heart. The redshirt junior hammer thrower from Snohomish, Wash., is the men's field events captain for the 2016 track and field season. After suffering foot pain in his left foot for nearly three years, Travis was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his foot, aggravated by what he loved to do: throw the hammer. His injury forced him take time away from throwing not once, but twice for months at a time in the last year. Returning to practice and competition was slow but Travis has thrown a PR in hammer this season. Maybe that PR had something to do with his haircut. Not just any haircut but one that chopped off 12-plus inches of hair that was donated to Locks of Love, a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children suffering from long-term medical hair loss. While donation was not his initial goal, Travis became determined to grow his thick, blonde mane until it was long enough to donate. And that happened a week ago. A criminal justice major, Travis will pursue a career as a fire fighter after graduation.
NUTRITIONAL CORNER
Sam Levora's to-do list this spring had two big projects: to run an NCAA Regional qualifying time in the 5000 meters and to compile recipes for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Cookbook. Sam, a sophomore from Sandpoint, Idaho, has had to overcome some respiratory issues but feels ready to run well at the Pac-12 Championships May 14-15. As for the SAAC Cookbook, it is a labor of love. Sam is a hospitality business management major and calls himself a “foodie” who likes to take on the “head chef” duties when the cross country team has fall training camp. Sam had an Italian grandmother so he gravitates to pasta dishes and his teammates request his homemade macaroni and cheese. The SAAC Cookbook will have athlete-inspired recipes that represent the wide range of personalities with a lot of great family recipes from all over the world as well as different regions of the U.S. Sam has already cooked several of the recipes which intrigued him. He plans to pursue a dream to open a restaurant and/or be involved in the emerging wine industry. Sam's passion for food fuels his academic and athletic paths.
WSU WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD COMPETE STUDENT-ATHLETES
ACADEMIC SPOTLIGHT
Dominique Keel doesn't list juggling as one of her many talents but she has successfully demonstrated an ability to juggle the many aspects of her collegiate life for the past four years. The senior from Beaverton, Ore., will graduate this Saturday with a degree in Sociology. Dominique, called Dom by her friends, earned the 2015 Exceptional Senior Award, given by the Sociology department to the rising senior who excels in classes in the Sociology major. Going into this final semester of classes, Dom carried a 3.90 GPA. She also serves as the WSU women's team track captain, a position that she sees as an honor but not additional duties as she has always strived to lead by example on and off the track. Dom's name can be found in the WSU top ten records for the 60m dash (7.57 seconds - 7th), 200m dash (23.74 - 5th), the 400m relay 44.61 - 2nd) and 1600m relay (3:36.76 - 4th). She is currently racing toward another NCAA appearance. Dom served as the SAAC president as a junior. She has also been a leader in her Pullman church which fit well with her career aspirations to work with at-risk children and families. Last year she led a group of 20 students called the Athlete Village in weekly discussions. Her work with the church makes her also consider going into the ministry. Dom is a mere 5'3” tall but her reach and influence among her peers is gigantic.
LEADERSHIP
Kelsie Taylor, a senior from Naches, Wash., is a student-athlete who epitomizes leadership. A kinesiology major with a minor in psychology, Kelsie's career goal is to become a physical therapist. Academics has always come first for Kelsie but she also takes on many other projects that embrace providing services for others. She serves as the vice president of SAAC and has enjoyed working with student-athletes to provide improvements to their WSU experience. She has been a peer academic counselor and has officiated Special Olympics basketball games. Kelsie made history last October as the first WSU student-athlete representative on the Pac-12 Student-Athlete Leadership Team (SALT) that joined Pac-12 Athletics Directors, Faculty Athletics Representatives, and Senior Woman Administrators at the Pac-12 Council meetings. She is the top women's javelin thrower for the Cougs this year and serves as the women's team captain for field events. In addition to her course work and athletics department activities, Kelsie also works in the WSU Athletics Business Office assisting with a wide range of duties. She has found an area away from track and field in which to channel her competitive nature. Kelsie is an accomplished trap shooter, having joined the family hobby when she was around eight years old. While not a sport that is highly populated with women, Kelsie's skills are always appreciated by the older men she competes against and more times than not, beats! Kelsie plans to work for a year after graduation and then begin working on her advanced degree in physical therapy with a dream job of working with a professional sports team but will be happy working in a clinical setting. No doubt Kelsie will be successful in any field she pursues because of her personal philosophy of placing the success of others ahead of her own.
COUGARS COMPETE AT COMBINED EVENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Pac-12 Conference Track & Field Combined Events Championships are Saturday and Sunday, May 7 & 8, at Husky Track in Seattle...Washington State University student-athletes competing are Dino Dodig in the decathlon (10 men), Alissa Brooks-Johnson, Liz Harper and Lindsey Schauble in the heptathlon (15 women)...Brooks-Johnson is the defending Pac-12 Heptathlon Champion...more info on pages 2 & 3...events begin at Noon Saturday and 11:30 a.m. Sunday...Live Results can be viewed at www.pac-12.org...individual events and team relays at Pac-12 T&F Championships take place May 14-15, also at UW's Husky Track.
WAYNE PHIPPS, DIR. OF WSU CROSS COUNTRY/TRACK & FIELD
Wayne Phipps (Univ. of British Columbia '91/Oregon '94) become the 15th coach to take the reins of the Washington State men's program and the second coach for the combined men's and women's program at WSU on July 1, 2014...Phipps had been the University of Idaho's Director and Track & Field/Cross Country from 2010 through 2014, and was a coach with the Vandals program for a total of 19 years...he served as co-head coach from 2000-09, after serving as an assistant coach from 1995-99... at Idaho, he was named conference Coach of the Year 14 times and led the Vandals to a record 16 conference titles.
COUGAR COACHING STAFF
WSU Track & Field coaching staff includes Associate Head Coaches Julie Taylor (throws), and Yogi Teevens (sprints, relays and horizontal jumps)...Assistant Coaches are Brad Walker (vertical jumps), and Allix Potratz-Lee (distance)...Andrea Sabbatine is the Operations Coordinator...volunteeers working with the WSU track and field this year include: Jesse Jorgensen, Nigel Joseph, Hannah Kiser, Josiah Sims, Tim Taylor, and Liga Velvere.
2016 WASHINGTON STATE TRACK & FIELD TEAM CAPTAINS
Women's Track: Dominique Keel; Women's Field - Kelsie Taylor; Women's Distance: CharLee Linton; Men's Track: CJ Allen; Men's Field: Travis Pickett; Men's Distance: John Whelan.