Northwest Missouri State University applied health science faculty and students on Oct. 24 attended the annual regional meeting of the Central States Chapter of American College of Sports Medicine, where they presented and students competed in a Quiz Bowl.

The annual meeting provides attendees with a blend of research and clinical information as well as opportunities for networking and socializing with individuals in the field from across the region. Northeastern State University in Oklahoma hosted the meeting.

“This prepares them for their future, allows them to collaborate and network with others, provides an educational opportunity, and is fun,” Dr. Rhonda Beemer, an assistant professor of health and physical education, said.

The grant-funded opportunity marked the first time Northwest applied health science students attended the conference and competed in a Central States Quiz Bowl. The competing students were Cassidy Brannon, of Omaha, Nebraska, Ashleigh Waltz, of Wiota, Iowa, and Mackenzie Daffer, of Percival, Iowa; all are senior students studying applied health science with emphases in exercise science.

Waltz and Alica Trotter, of St. Louis, who was an alternate on the Quiz Bowl team, presented a poster about automated external defibrillator placement and the prevention of sudden cardiac arrest in northwest Missouri senior centers, a project they completed during Waltz’s profession-based experience in conjunction with Mosaic Medical Center-Maryville.

“The conference enhanced my learning at Northwest because it opened my mind to the things that are out there to learn,” Trotter said. “Northwest has prepared me so well, and it’s only influenced me to want to go further with my education.”

Dr. Eric Mosier, an assistant professor of health and physical education at Northwest, also presented a poster comparing ground reaction forces derived from force plate and motion capture systems during vertical jumps. Beemer presented a poster about the use of goal attainment scaling in a community outreach health coaching program.