By Elyse Pitkin
Recently seven integrative exercise students attended the Midwest Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine’s (MWACSM) 49th annual meeting in Indianapolis with assistant professor of integrative exercise science, Dr. Mallory Kobak, and integrative exercise science program director, Dr. Michael Rebold. Along with listening to presentations, observing student research, and attending various networking events, the students were able to participate in the main event, the quiz bowl, which is a jeopardy-style competition. Three students, William Muirhead, Logan Bailey, and Regina Dubeansky were selected to represent the College and competed against 13 other schools including -Youngstown State University, Ohio University, University of Cincinnati, Bowling Green State University, to name a few.
The first round of the quiz bowl was divided into two sections with seven schools each, and the top seven would later advance to the second round. Hiram completed both rounds with the highest scores out of all teams and will now represent the entire Midwest region at the National ACSM Conference in May, with the opportunity to compete against the top schools from other regions of the United States.
“Representing Hiram in the quiz bowl meant a lot to me and I was honored to have been asked to be on the team,” said Regina Dubeansky ‘24. “It was an amazing feeling to win the competition, make our professors proud, and bring a trophy back to Hiram!”
“I got much more meaning out of this experience than I had initially expected,” said William Muirhead ‘23. “Without another undergrad experience to compare to, I had no way to know how my education at Hiram would be as opposed to other undergraduate programs. Now that I was able to pit myself against many other schools that teach the same subject material, I’m thrilled to be able to say that I’m doing well in my education.”
Dr. Kobak and Dr. Rebold are grateful for the experience and for the opportunity to immerse their students in professional development opportunities.
“Winning this competition has proven to our Hiram community and the MWACSM community that our program is one of the best,” said Dr. Kobak. “Dr Rebold has created rigorous coursework so that our students can not only succeed here, but anywhere! We are so proud of the hard work our students have put in and are excited to represent the entire Midwest region at the National competition in May.”
“We would like to thank the College for their generous funding,” said Dr. Rebold. “Without this funding, it would be difficult for Dr. Kobak and I to attend conferences for professional development and for our students to attend as well. Dr. Kobak and I would also like to thank our students because of their professionalism. Our students had a great time, established new friendships, and acquired a great level of knowledge. This is why we teach!”
