From left are Southeast students Kevin Yaeger, Logan Page and Kory Kasper.
Three Southeast Missouri State University students in the Department of Kinesiology, Nutrition and Recreation captured first place for the second consecutive year in the Student Quiz Bowl at the Central States Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Conference Oct. 24-25 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The annual Student Quiz Bowl is a jeopardy-style competition amongst undergraduates from universities and colleges from Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri. Each team of three students is given a question from science-based categories and has 15 seconds to determine an answer, said Dr. Jason Wagganer, professor and interim chair of the Department of Kinesiology, Nutrition and Recreation at Southeast.
The Southeast team was comprised of Logan Page, a senior general health sciences major from Malden, Missouri; Kory Kasper, a senior athletic training major from Springfield, Illinois; and Kevin Yaeger, a senior health sciences major, pre-physical therapy/occupation therapy option, from St. Louis, Missouri. The students were invited to compete based on their academic success in the core curriculum of the health sciences and health management programs.
Kasper plans to become a licensed athletic trainer, and Page aspires to become a perfusionist. Both were members of last years winning team. Yaeger, who plans to pursue a doctorate in physical therapy and work in an outpatient clinic, was a first-year member of the team.
The quiz bowl was the greatest part of the whole conference, said Yaeger. Just before the final question, I was very nervous. I did not want to blow our first place lead on the last question. However, when we found out the topic was anatomy, all nervousness went away. My team and I were calm and ready to take on the question.
In addition to questions on anatomy, students were asked questions about exercise physiology, kinesiology, exercise prescription, ergogenic aids, resistance training, cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology.
The team now advances to the National ACSM Student Quiz Bowl competition in San Francisco, California, next May. They will represent the Central States region as they compete against teams from the other 11 regions in the ACSM organization.
Wagganer said, Beating larger institutions at the regional Student Quiz Bowl competition is a true testament to the academic program and quality of faculty within the Department of Kinesiology, Nutrition and Recreation, Wagganer said