DENVER – As National Athletic Training Month comes to a close, MSU Denver Athletics is taking time today to recognize the outstanding work of its athletic training staff.
 
"No one would be in Athletic Training if they didn't want to help people," said Chelsea Nugent, MSU Denver's head athletic trainer. "Student-athletes spend so much time working hard in practice, and when they are injured it's rewarding to be able to help them get back to what they love to do and for them to perform at such a high level."
 
Nugent oversees a group of Roadrunners Athletics trainers that includes Roberto Chavez, Rachel Maksimowicz and Heather Racine.
 
"Chelsea, Roberto, Rachel, Heather … they work extremely hard, long hours, late nights, early mornings … to make sure our athletes have the best chance to be productive," said Dan Ficke, MSU Denver men's basketball coach. "They get our guys back from injury, and they keep them from getting injured. Without them and their hard work, we wouldn't be able to do what we do, and our guys wouldn't be able to perform at the high level they do."
 
Chavez is MSU Denver's main point of contact for women's basketball, men's soccer and tennis, while Maksimowicz oversees softball, women's soccer and women's golf.
 
"Our athletic trainers are absolutely awesome, and we're very grateful for them," said Josh Graetz, MSU Denver's tennis coach. "Roberto works extremely long hours with our tennis teams. He's there before matches, and he's there after matches, giving treatment. A lot of times it's a very thankless job."
 
National Athletic Training Month is held every March in order to spread awareness about the important work of athletic trainers. And, trust everyone at MSU Denver, there's a heck of a lot more to it than taping ankles and filling water bottles.
 
"The whole point of Athletic Training Month is to provide education about our profession," Nugent said. "We all have master's degrees. We've had rigorous education and lot of clinical rotations. We're a healthcare profession with high standards and constant education."
 
Racine is the lead trainer for the Roadrunners' baseball and volleyball program.
 
"Keeping 43 guys healthy all year long isn't the easiest thing, especially when we play 50 games," said Ryan Strain, MSU Denver's baseball coach. "The hours during our spring season is a lot – game on Friday, doubleheader on Saturday, another game on Sunday – they're usually here about three hours before the game. So the time commitment they put in for us is impressive."
 
On the unique MSU Denver campus, the Roadrunners' outdoor sports – baseball, softball, soccer and tennis – are on one side of the campus, while basketball and volleyball are on the other.
 
"It's essential that we work together," Nugent said. "We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, and sometimes we need a break and we trade off covering a game for a different team or on a different day. Sometimes we struggle with a particular injury that we haven't seen before, and we talk to one another about how to treat it.
 
"We continue to grow professionally. We all went to different schools and had different instructors and we can have different principles on how to do things. I've picked up exercises from our other trainers that I like to use now. Having two facilities on the opposite sides of campus, we can be spread pretty thin. So we have to be open to working with any of our athletes. That can be nice because certain sports are notorious for certain types of injuries and when you work with the other teams you can stay up to date on other injuries and rehabilitation."
 
Said women's soccer coach Kat Mertz: "We're really lucky to have athletic trainers who care for our student-athletes and provide great treatment that allows our players to compete at a high level."
 
Nugent, who oversees men's basketball as well as all the track & field and cross country athletes, said it goes beyond just the athletic side of things.
 
"With this age group, you're helping them grow up, in a way," she said. "They're becoming adults, figuring out what's what and what they want to be. You talk with them about applying for jobs or internships. If they want a career in athletics, you talk with them about what that looks like. And you're talking about their wellness, what they need to do to take care of the bodies and what they should be eating. These are all important things to learn before they graduate."