The month of March has been filled with a ton of competition and monumental seasons. The Olympic Strength and Conditioning staff has bee in full support and spectator mode. It has been great to see our student-athletes competing again while accomplishing their performance goals! Kudos to Adam Kearns, one of our past interns, for landing a full time position with IMG Academy in Florida. We are also proud to announce that our very own, Coach Renteria, passed the Certified Rehabilitation Counselor Certification, was selected to receive the University of Iowa College of Education C. Esco Obermann Memorial Scholarship In Rehabilitation Counseling, and completed her comprehensive exams. Great work Coach Renteria on the second masters & thank you for adding another niche to our multifaceted staff!

This month has been an exciting one due to almost all of our sports beginning their competitive seasons. Some sport programs have gone as long as 435 days without competition so we are excited to say the least! We have begun our internship curriculum with our educational lifting progressions and presentations. Our interns have hit the ground running and approach each opportunity as a learning experience.

Our staff is excited to see the majority of Olympic sport athletes have the opportunity to compete again. There has undoubtedly been a ‘buzz’ around Carver Hawkeye related to a variety of schedules being released! The student-athletes have remain dedicated throughout the challenges of 2020 and are finally seeing their hard work in action. The winter break allowed for staff to get caught up on some personal and professional growth . Good luck to our Hawks who are competing! Additionally, we are proud to announce the return of Strength & Conditioning Intern, Josh Wilken and welcome newly added, Katie Markan.

December wraps up a productive semester of training for our student-athletes. Though we faced COVID-related challenges and new safety protocols, our student-athletes remain resilient and motivated to get better everyday. We want to wish everyone a happy safe New Year. Go Hawks!

Our Olympic sports continue to bring high effort to training for their anticipated seasons. In light of Thanksgiving, we are extremely thankful for your commitment and resiliency this fall! November led to seeing the long awaited return to competition with Men’s and Women’s Basketball beginning their season schedule. It is great to watch our Hawks pick up where they left off and bring home victories again. Additionally, our staff wanted to congratulate Lake Kwaza, Women’s Track & Field alumni, who was 1 of 10 athletes to make the 2020-2021 U.S. Women’s Bobsled National Team - you go girl! Good Luck With Finals Hawks!

This month the Olympic Strength & Conditioning staff has been productive with consistent training of our student-athletes, internship curriculums, and intern progressions. Our interns, Josh Wilken & Juan Maldonado have been a huge part of our department’s training hours running smoothly. Additionally, they both presented their squat and deadlift progression to the staff. Finally, some of our staff member’s have gotten out and voted early for the upcoming 2020 election. We hope you use your voice next week on Election Day! #HAWKtheVOTE

September presented the first opportunity in months of consistent training with our student-athletes. We have been productive to say the least! Getting back to the weight room and training alongside teammates has provided some sort of normalcy for our Hawkeyes. The intern curriculums have begun and they will be presenting their exercise progressions at the end of next week.

The month of August has been filled with challenging announcements regarding Fall competition, individual programs within our Athletic Department, and ongoing struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic within our community. Our student-athletes are strong and resilient. They continue to set examples for all of us and remain dedicated to getting better each day. We appreciate all of you! Additionally, we are excited to welcome back volunteer coach(s) Josh Wilkin and newly added Juan Maldonado for the Fall semester.

We are preparing for Fall Sport competition with teams that have been participating in the ‘Pilot Program’ coordinated alongside the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. The majority of our student-athletes and strength coaches continue to work hard remotely. Our staff is working tirelessly with our fellow Sport Performance Department members to ensure our protocols within training are sound prior to the student-athlete’s return to campus

Fortunately, the Iowa Athletic Department has allowed the return of some of our student-athletes. This has enabled a handful of our Olympic Strength and Conditioning staff to return and train their respective teams. Though, the other half of the staff is patiently waiting to get back, we have remained productive collaboratively. Our staff continues to participate in zoom meetings with sport coaches, sport performance staff, and professionals around the country. Additionally, we have partook in numerous crucial conversations regarding the Black Lives Matter Movement aspiring to educate ourselves. Our staff is committed to creating an environment grounded in justice and equality for our Black student-athletes. We understand this needs to be an ongoing conversation and are committed to standing by and for our student-athletes!