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WVU sport management students Kaitlin Beegle, Jada Kent, Abby Childers, and Charlotte Ralph, recently gained real-world event operations experience at the 2025 Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. The group worked alongside the Tepper Sports & Entertainment Guest Experience Team at Bank of America Stadium as Virginia Tech took on Minnesota.

As part of this experiential learning opportunity organized by Patrick Hairston from the School of Sport Sciences, students attended a pre-game operations meeting before being paired with supervisors to shadow on game day. The experience offered an inside look at event and facility management, including pre-game preparations to post-game wrap-up.

On the surface, forensics science and human performance might seem worlds apart. The former involves meticulously piecing together evidence to solve crimes, while the latter seeks to optimize athletic performance on the field. Yet both disciplines share a core principle: the art and science of problem-solving through data. At WVU, Troy Bishop has found an unexpected yet harmonious bridge between the two.

Growing up in Felton, Del., Bishop attended a technical high school and learned to weld. However, he was inspired by his father, a police officer, to pursue a career in law enforcement. His interest in forensic science led him to WVU, renowned for its top-tier program in the field.

Adam McNeill’s path to West Virginia University was shaped by his family’s ties to WVU and his own passion for sports. A sport management major from Charlotte, N.C., McNeill has already built an impressive résumé, including an extensive internship with Learfield. With his sights set on a career in corporate partnerships, McNeill is consistently working to expand his network and opportunities that are provided to him by WVU.

Holly Rogers navigated her fair share of challenges in her journey to West Virginia University. A lifelong athlete, she devoted over a decade to competitive softball, spending countless hours on fields and in training. A series of injuries ultimately lead her not to one, but four, reconstructive ankle surgeries.

Out of high school, Rogers headed to Montgomery College, a junior college located in her hometown of Rockville, Md. After writing a paper on the psychology of injury recovery, her professor urged her to look into the field of sports psychology and encouraged her to consider it as a potential career.

WV Healthy Schools in Action, a partnership between the West Virginia University College of Applied Human Sciences and the CDC, is setting new standards for school wellness in West Virginia. Through this five-year initiative, West Virginia was selected as one of 20 states to receive CDC funding, with initial efforts focused on transforming wellness practices in Mercer County.

In the project’s first year, WVHSIA achieved 100 percent participation across Mercer County’s 24 schools, each of which created a wellness team led by a dedicated wellness leader. Teams assessed their wellness programs using the School Health Index (SHI), identifying both strengths and growth opportunities, and developed action plans tailored to the specific needs of their school communities.

The West Virginia University College of Applied Human Sciences made a significant impact at this year’s ShapeWV Conference held over the weekend at Canaan Valley Resort State Park. CAHS was well represented through a combination of presentations, exhibits, and awards recognizing the college’s faculty, students, and alumni.

The ShapeWV Conference provided a platform for CAHS to showcase its leadership in health and education, underscoring the college’s commitment to advancing these fields through research, service, and education. 

The  West Virginia University  Alumni Association will celebrate recipients of the 2024  Homecoming and Alumni Service Awards during  Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 18-20, recognizing the accomplishments of alumni around the world and honoring their service, commitment and loyalty to their alma mater.

College of Applied Human Sciences alumnae Tracy Schoenadel (‘87, ‘89, ‘92) and Laura Boyd (‘89, ‘91) will be honored with the distinctive title of Outstanding Alumni. 

Ryan Turek, a junior at West Virginia University majoring in sport management, is experiencing what most baseball fans only dream of – working during the Major League Baseball Playoffs. With the Cleveland Guardians hosting the Detroit Tigers in the first round of the playoffs, Turek, originally from Mayfield Heights, Ohio, was in the thick of it all as a ballpark runner, making sure operations behind the scenes run smoothly.

Turek’s path to this moment began in high school when he decided to pursue a summer job with the Cleveland Guardians.

Kelsey Kinnamon, a 2019 graduate of West Virginia University, is being recognized at the upcoming 2024 Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) Annual Conference in Las Vegas. Kinnamon has been awarded the prestigious AASP Student Abstract Award, which is presented to outstanding student researchers. The award is part of the AASP Foundation’s initiative to support students attending the conference, providing Kinnamon with the opportunity to present her research in front of leading professionals in her field.

Kinnamon’s research, titled “Disrupting the Norm: Planned Disruption Use Among Elite Olympic Weightlifting Coaches,” explores an innovative approach to pressure training in Olympic weightlifting. Alongside co-researcher Billy Bean, Kinnamon conducted interviews with elite-level weightlifting coaches to understand their use of planned disruptions as a training technique. These planned disruptions simulate the high-pressure environments athletes face when competing internationally. Weightlifters often train in familiar settings but must perform at their peak in unpredictable environments, sometimes with little time to adjust. Kinnamon’s research offers valuable insights into how coaches can better prepare athletes for these challenges, ensuring they are mentally equipped to excel under pressure.

When Alexander Neukam arrived at West Virginia University, he wasn’t entirely sure what path he would take. Like many students, he came in undecided, exploring his options and finding his footing. It wasn’t until a summer conversation after his freshman year with his grandparents, both nurses, that he realized his calling lay in health and well-being.