Public health and sports medicine Archives - Health and Human Services News

Where passion meets practice

April 23, 2026 by Sewly Khatun

A single moment on the field or court can change everything. When an athlete goes down, time slows and someone must be ready, not just with skill, but with calmness, confidence and the instinct to act.

For Missouri State University graduate students Cooper Lewis and Malia Moore, that moment is not hypothetical — it is the reason they chose the athletic training path.

Both are in the Master of Athletic Training program at Missouri State and will graduate this spring. Through their time at the university, they have found their purpose by combining a love for sports with a drive to help others.

Finding the calling

Moore grew up in Liberty, Missouri, just outside Kansas City. Her path to athletic training began through personal experience.

“I played soccer in high school and suffered from an injury,” she said. “I saw what athletic trainers did firsthand and knew this was something I wanted to do in future.”

While exploring programs across Missouri, Moore was drawn to Missouri State’s strong reputation and felt the Springfield location was the right fit. She began her bachelor’s degree in sports medicine in fall 2020 and, after graduating in May 2024, continued on to pursue her master’s.

As for Lewis who grew up in Laredo, Missouri, he came to the field through a different way. A lifelong sports enthusiast, he spent years searching for a career that included everything he cared about: athletics, health and helping people. Athletic training brought those pieces together.

“I loved sports my entire life and wanted a career that could combine my interests,” he said. “Once I discovered athletic training, the rest was history.”

Lewis chose Missouri State for its high-quality program and supportive learning environment. He also valued the opportunity to complete both his undergraduate degree in sports medicine and graduate degrees in one place, building his clinical foundation from the ground up.

Learning that extends beyond the classroom

The duo began their master’s program in summer 2024. They found a curriculum that places students in real clinical environments early and often. They got to work alongside athletes, preceptors and health care professionals in ways textbooks alone cannot replicate.

“I thought I wouldn’t like any setting other than high school. But I fell in love with the college environment, which I didn’t expect,” Moore said.

Lewis credits the program for turning him into a professional.

“The relationships made the biggest impact on my life,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed and developed friendships with classmates, professors, preceptors, athletes and patients.”

Both students also stepped into research and leadership. Lewis is completing a critically appraised topic research study on dry needling and its effects on chronic tendinopathy injuries. He also serves as president of the Athletic Training Student Association.

Moore worked on a research project that focused on the effectiveness of dry needling on hamstring strength, range of motion, pain and extensibility. She presented it at the recent McQueary College of Health and Human Services Student Research Symposium.

An experience that stands out for both of them was traveling with Missouri State Football to its first-ever bowl game, the Xbox Bowl in Frisco, Texas, last December. They enjoyed experiencing a major athletic event.

“It was such a fun experience and one of my favorite memories,” Moore said.

Lewis echoes that feeling and described it as an opportunity to build strong connections while working alongside fellow students and professionals.

What comes next

With graduation coming up, the students are already clear on their next steps and purpose.

Moore wants to work in college athletics, building the same kind of relationships with athletes she experienced with her own athletic trainers, including assistant professor Dr. McCall Christan.

“I hope to help athletes stay healthy, recover from injuries and perform at their best,” she said. “As a former injured athlete, I know the value of having someone steady in your corner.”

Lewis is interested in rehabilitation and clinical care, with long-term goals in health system leadership. In a profession often misunderstood or overlooked, that kind of advocacy matters and begins with practitioners who believe in the work.

“I want to continue to advocate for athletic trainers and increase public knowledge of what we do,” he said.

For Lewis and Moore, athletic training is more than a career path. It is about being present in critical moments, building trust with patients and using knowledge and compassion to help them return stronger.

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Two Mo State Bears at the forefront of public health

February 23, 2026 by Sewly Khatun

Public health impacts daily life in ways most people rarely notice. It guides disease prevention, supports mental health and creates environments where communities can thrive.

At the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, Missouri State University alumni Katie Towns and Lauren Stockam play key roles in leading public health efforts and communicating them across the community.

While their roles are different, their purpose is shared: helping people live healthier lives.

Leading with responsibility and care

Born in Maine and raised mostly in St. Louis, Missouri, Towns came to Springfield for college. She never expected to one day lead the local health department.

Towns earned her undergraduate degree in sports medicine and athletic training from Missouri State in 2000. She loved working with athletes and helping them recover after injury. But as she gained experience, her focus widened.

“I started realizing I was just as interested in populations as I was in athletes,” Towns said. “I wanted to understand how culture, behavior and social norms shape quality of life.”

That shift led her back to Missouri State, where she earned her Master of Public Health in 2006. During her graduate studies, she worked on tobacco control at the American Cancer Society and spoke in coalitions where her voice was valued. She also built a professional connection with Kevin Gipson, who was then director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. That connection steered her toward public health leadership.

In July 2021, she became director of the department, leading about 110 employees and managing a $13 million budget. Her team works to prevent communicable diseases, address chronic conditions and respond to growing concerns such as mental health.

“At a broader level, it’s about how our community, state and nation can prioritize prevention more,” Towns said. “Those changes are often slow and incremental, but being part of that change is extremely valuable to me as a professional.”

Leading a team has influenced how she approaches decision-making and team management. She has been learning to trust her intuition more about when to apply pressure and when to let go. She notes it is not easy to understand the difference, especially early in a career. But making mistakes, rebuilding and moving forward is part of the process; experience teaches what school alone cannot.

Giving back to impact the next generation

Towns, who believes in staying involved as an alumna, began serving on the McQueary College of Health and Human Services (MCHHS) Advisory Board around 2015, when the college was preparing for accreditation. She serves in an advisory capacity, attending meetings to share community feedback on projects, program direction and partnerships.

“As a local municipal governmental entity, there are things we do daily that are oriented toward basic service provision,” Towns said. “Serving on the advisory board gives me perspective on what’s happening in the community on a collective level. It helps us as a department be better positioned to serve the community in ways that are more relevant.”

For Towns, the connection is both personal and professional as a proud alumna. Missouri State helped prepare her for leadership, so she wants students who care about service and public health to feel that same sense of readiness.

She encourages students to plug into community projects that interest them and focus on building relationships along the way. She also advises them to pay attention to a group’s tone and invest time where people are supportive and committed to their growth.

“Advanced education was such a pivotal foundation for my career growth,” Towns said. “For me, staying connected means giving back to that part of my career that helped propel me.”

Finding purpose through communication

Growing up with a mother and grandmother who work in health care, Stockam developed a lifelong interest in health and medicine. However, she did not initially plan to pursue a public health career.

Her path changed later during her time as a graduate assistant for MCHHS through Missouri State’s strategic communication office, where her writing skills connected to real-world public health work. Through communication and storytelling, she discovered her own way to help people, especially in moments where many health conversations often overlook human stories.

In her GA role from June 2020 to November 2021, she had the opportunity to write an alumni profile highlighting Towns and her impact in the field.

“Interviewing Katie opened the door to my career in public health communication,” Stockam said. “It led me to a job and career in which I feel a deep passion and purpose.”

Now, as a public health program representative in the Health Department’s office of communications and outreach, she coordinates program communication needs, writes copy and assists with developing communication strategy. Her goal is to make preventive health information clear, authentic and easy for the public to understand, while giving complex health topics a more human voice.

“What I love about my job is the wide variety of topics I get to communicate about,” said Stockam, who earned her Bachelor of Science in Public Relations with a minor in creative writing in 2020. She later earned a Master of Professional Studies with an individualized studies certificate in 2021.

Turning stories into connection

She leads the Mental Health 417 Stories Project, which launched in September 2025 during Suicide Prevention Month. It is open to everyone and free to participate.

The project is an anonymous online storytelling platform where people can share their mental health experiences. Its purpose is to help break down mental health stigma, encourage positive mental health behaviors and build stronger social connections to combat loneliness.

“Storytelling is a basic instinct for humans, but it’s our most powerful tool,” Stockam said. “I feel so hopeful and connected to my fellow humans when I learn of how they overcome their hard days, what they wish they could go back and tell their younger selves and when they share their lived experiences with bravery.”

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Mo State junior achieves All-American status in flag football officiating

February 11, 2026 by Sewly Khatun

SPRINGFIELD – For her outstanding performance as an official, Missouri State University junior Ashley Sanders earned All-American honors at this year’s National Intramural Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) National Flag Football Championships.

A national-level collegiate tournament for recreational flag football in the United States, the event took place from Jan. 7-9 at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Competing among student officials from colleges and universities across the country, Sanders, a sports medicine major from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, was recognized as one of the top officials at the tournament. The All-American distinction is an honor awarded to only the top eight officials in attendance.

“Being named an All-American among such a talented group of student officials was a shock at first,” Sanders said. “I was incredibly honored and a little overwhelmed. My first reaction was gratitude toward my mentors, crewmates and everyone who has pushed me to grow as an official.”

For her, the recognition affirmed that her work matters and that growth comes from stepping outside her comfort zone.

About the award

Ashley Sanders (first from left) with fellow officials at the NIRSA Championship Series.

Throughout the tournament, officials were evaluated by the Official Committee, a group of Campus Recreation professionals with extensive expertise in flag football officiating. The committee assessed each officer’s performance on the field, including rule knowledge and application, mechanics, positioning, communication and leadership. At the end of the event, officials were ranked and the top performers were selected to receive All-American honors. Sanders is the first Missouri State student to receive this recognition.

“It was a proud moment, but also one that reminded me how much support it takes to reach this level,” Sanders said. “My community around me is a huge reason why I’m so dedicated and driven to do things like this. The first thing I did was text my boss Caroline Wieters at Missouri State and my mom!”

A path that began at Mo State

Sanders started officiating flag football during the second semester of her freshman year at Missouri State. She also played flag football as a freshman, joining intramural teams through Campus Recreation. Now, she works as a recreation sports supervisor and coordinator, where she trains and evaluates younger officials.

As she gained experience, her sports medicine coursework began to influence how she saw the game and did her job on the field.

“Being a sports medicine student has helped me tremendously as an official,” she said. “My education has improved my understanding of movement, injury prevention and player safety, which allows me to anticipate plays better and position myself effectively.”

Mastering her craft

Sanders officiating on the field during a match.

Sanders brings four years of experience to the field. She credits consistent preparation, film review, rule study and learning how to apply feedback for her success.

“The championship experience was incredible and exciting,” she said. “Being surrounded by top-level officials from across the country was fun and pushed me to elevate my performance every game.”

The tournament demanded long days and focus under pressure. Even then, Sanders stayed committed to learning.

“It’s easy to get in your head at these tournaments,” she said. “But I was constantly reminded that mistakes are how you truly grow and the way you handle them and bounce back is very important.”

The honor represents trust in her ability to handle high-level games, pressure situations and leadership responsibilities. It also motivates her to continue improving and hold herself to a high standard on and off the field.

“It reinforced by drive for excellence and my long-term goals in sports medicine,” Sanders said. “I hope to keep growing as a leader, mentoring younger officials and applying the same dedication to my future career as an athletic trainer.”

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Leaving a legacy of athletic training and service

December 8, 2025 by Sewly Khatun

When Gary Ward joined what was then Southwest Missouri State University in 1978, he was the first athletic trainer for women’s athletics.

While he retired in 2010, he continued teaching part time until 2019. He remains active on game days, running the clock for Missouri State football and basketball. In addition, he also serves on the McQueary College of Health and Human Services Community Advisory Board.

His dedication to Missouri State athletics has earned him recognition beyond campus.

On Oct. 7, Ward was honored at the 39th annual Springfield Area Sports Stars induction ceremony of the Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame.

“I’ve been honored in other halls of fame, but being recognized here in Springfield means a lot. This is where I spent my career, so this one feels special,” Ward said.

Finding his calling in athletics

Ward’s journey into the world of athletics started far from Missouri. Born in Laramie, Wyoming, he grew up playing multiple sports.

His curiosity about sports medicine deepened when he began noticing who helped injured players on the field.

“I remember watching college football games on TV and seeing a player get hurt,” Ward said. “Someone would run in from the sideline and I wondered, ‘Who is that person?’ That was the athletic trainer. And that’s how I got interested in athletic training.”

He earned his first bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1974 from Montana State University and completed a master’s in athletic training in 1975 at the University of Arizona. Later, he completed a second bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from Florida International University in spring 1978 and joined Missouri State that fall.

Building programs from the ground up

When Ward came to the university, he had a dual appointment as an athletic trainer and instructor in physical education. Soon after, he helped launch the undergraduate athletic training program in 1979.

By 1981, he also played a key role in establishing a campus-based sports medicine clinic that served the community, especially high school athletes who lacked access to athletic trainers. The clinic later partnered with St. John’s Hospital (now Mercy), expanding both services and hands-on training opportunities for students.

Ward is proud of the national recognition that Missouri State’s athletic training program earned over the years.

“For many years, we had a 100% pass rate on the national exam,” he said. “We were also one of the earliest accredited programs in the country.”

His contributions extended beyond athletic training. As the only physical therapist on campus at the time, Ward served on committees that helped establish both the physical therapy and occupational therapy programs.

“I got to do a lot of different things. Hopefully, I was helping programs grow and giving something back to the university,” he said.

Batman, Robin and the scorer’s table

Ward is well known for his long-standing partnership with colleague Jimmy Wright at the scorer’s table. The duo is often described as “Batman and Robin.”

Gary Ward (right) and Jimmy Wright (left).

Together, they have worked on an estimated 6,000 sporting events together on the official table crew for Missouri State, Greenwood Laboratory School, the Blue and Gold Tournament and the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions. Ward handles the main clock duties in various sports.

The partnership began informally in the early 1990s at a basketball game at Greenwood Lab. As Ward was sitting in the stands watching his son play junior high basketball, he needed a break from the other dads. So, he went down and sat with Wright, who was working the clock at the game.

“After a few games, I started keeping the official scorebook for Greenwood at that time while Jimmy continued to run the clock,” Ward said. “Those roles are what we still do at Greenwood.”

At Missouri State football games, Wright runs the play clock and Ward runs the game clock. In basketball games, Wright handles the shot clock and has been the only person to have ever done that job since the shot clock was added in 1985, while Ward manages the game clock.

The Springfield Area Sports Hall of Fame honored them together at the induction ceremony — celebrating their decades of teamwork, consistency and behind-the-scenes dedication to the local sports community.

“It was nice to be recognized together. It wouldn’t have been right to honor one without the other,” Ward said.

Reflections from his career

According to him, he hopes people remember that he treated others with respect and dignity.

“You never know what someone else is going through, so give them the benefit of the doubt and always look for the best in people.”

His years of dedication reinforced his belief that sports could help students develop leadership, teamwork and resilience — skills that matter far beyond the classroom or the training room.

Having worked in teaching, clinical practice, program development and game-day service for over four decades, Ward describes his career in one word: “varied.” Through his contributions, he has left a lasting influence felt across campus and throughout the community.

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