Sports Medicine Team Places Second at State Competition!

Liberty advanced sports medicine students just returned from the annual State Competition in Spokane in which students from over 50 schools competed in various Sports Medicine knowledge categories. This year's squad had our best showing ever! The overall team score placed us in second, just nine points behind the first-place team! That's our highest placement since we started competing! The Quiz Bowl team, which consisted of Sam C., Annika K., Shagun S. and Shreya V., also set a Liberty best with a second place finish! 

In addition to the top team finishes, we also set a Liberty best with five individuals finishing in the top 10 in their categories! Morgan P. finished in sixth place in Strength & Conditioning; Karina F. and Stella K. finished in fifth and eighth place respectively in Medical Terminology.

Andie M. finished in eighth place in First Aid & CPR; and Annika K. came in seventh place in the JV competition. The rest of the team included Anders H., Vickram G., Emmy L., Emma M., Olivia M., Kristina N., Elaina P., Elana P., Ryan R. and Rianna V.

Morten Orren, who teaches Sports Medicine and Health at Liberty, said “I could not be more proud of the work that my students did this year! The work that they put in to prepare blew me away. They took advantage of every opportunity to study and constantly showed that they wanted to succeed.” 

“I pointed them in the directions that they wanted to go, and they took off! They created their own study guides and always asked me for more! At the same time that they were working hard, they also made sure to have fun,” Orren continued. “They were a great group to work with and the excitement on their faces when the results were announced was one of the best things to see! This event is always a great team building experience and I have a feeling that this is one that they will never forget.” 

We asked some of the students on the team to share a bit about how they initially became involved in sports medicine and health science-related classes, and what they enjoyed about their experiences. Here’s what they had to say: 

Senior Andie Moon said she first got into sports medicine after injuring her shoulder. “I became very interested in the way the body moves and functions, particularly through the skeletal and muscular systems,” Moon said. “Since my injury is unknown to the cause of pain and the mechanics of the pain, I went into a deep dive of research. I then was able to determine that I was passionate about it and decided to take the course provided at Liberty.”  

Senior Emma Mattson shared that she tried sports medicine because she loves learning about anything related to the medical profession and found the class curriculum really exciting.  

“I love the structure of how we learn, and the community of people is so fun to be around,” Mattson said. “It is a super interesting course. People often say it’s a lot of memorizing and can be challenging, but (our teacher Morten Orren) is the best and is really good at teaching and helping you to understand. Also shadowing Mort and going to games for sports med, while it can be long, is super fun and informative.”  

Senior Ryan Riem said he had been interested in medicine for quite a long time, so when he saw that Liberty offered a Sports Medicine class, he knew that he had to take it. I took the Intro class my junior year then went on to the Advanced class senior year. 

“I love the curriculum and all the content that you won't find in any other class/elective. I love to be able to be in a class with other people with similar interests. The internship is also really fun and gives a lot of experience in the field,” Riem said. “I really think this is an amazing program and opportunity for anyone that has even an inkling of interest for anything medicine, anatomy, physiology, or first aid related.” 

Junior Stella Kirilenko said she first heard about sports medicine when her older brother took the class at Liberty. “One of my favorite parts of learning about sports medicine is that, as an athlete, I have the knowledge to help prevent my own injuries and to keep my teammates and I healthy,” Kirilenko said. 

Like other students, she also mentioned that one of her favorite things about the program is the tight-knit community of students who participate. 

“The Sports Medicine program is so incredible, and I think a lot of what is done behind the scenes is easy to dismiss,” she said. “The opportunity to go to the state competition is truly a blessing and there are so many benefits to going. The real-life experience and the new people you get to meet has to be the best part of the competition for me personally.”