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Four Western Illinois University senior athletic training majors recently took home the winning trophy in a College Quiz Bowl competition. Pictured are members of the winning team, l to r: Elizabeth Spangler, Amy Bednarko, Samantha Hainline and Jimmy Bedolla.
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Athletic Training Team Takes Home Trophy in College Quiz Bowl

November 18, 2011

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MACOMB, IL – Quick (and without using Google!), name a rehabilitation exercise to treat spinal stenosis. Can't do it? That wasn't the case for four Western Illinois University senior athletic training majors, who recently took home the winning trophy in a College Quiz Bowl competition.

The WIU student team — comprised of Amy Bednarko (Athens, IL), Samantha Hainline (Portage, IN), Elizabeth Spangler (Wonder Lake, IL) and alternate Jimmy Bedolla (Vernon Hills, IL) — along with kinesiology faculty and staff, attended the Illinois Athletic Trainers Association (IATA) Annual Meeting and Clinical Symposium Nov. 5-6 in Bloomington (IL). There, the athletic training majors competed in the College Quiz Bowl contest. According to Renee Polubinsky, associate professor in kinesiology and Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP) director and adviser, the competition utilized a "Jeopardy" format, with topics related to all athletic training domains. Student teams from 11 universities and colleges in Illinois answered questions about injuries to the head, neck, spine, trunk and extremities, as well as about rehabilitation, therapeutic modalities and position statements used in health care and athletic training settings. They were also asked to identify signs and symptoms of various injuries, illnesses and general medical conditions.

"The question about treating spinal stenosis, which only two teams answered correctly, enabled our team to pull into the lead at the end," Polubinsky said. "The final question presented, for which our student team wagered and was only one of two teams to answer correctly was: 'Name five signs or symptoms of Marfan's Syndrome,'" she added.

As a result of the win, Western's student team will now go on to compete in the College Quiz Bowl at the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers' Association (GLATA) Winter Meeting, slated for March 15-17, 2012, in Wheeling (IL). According to Polubinsky, they will compete against the winning teams from institutions in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The winning team at the GLATA College Quiz Bowl will compete at the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) Annual Meeting and Symposium in St. Louis (MO) next June.

Student teams competing in the IATA College Quiz Bowl hailed from Aurora University, Eastern Illinois University, the University of Illinois, Illinois State University, Lewis University, North Central College, Northern Illinois University, Millikin University, North Park University and Trinity International.

Western's ATEP is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education. For more information about ATEP at WIU, contact Polubinsky at (309) 298-2050 or via email at RL-Polubinsky@wiu.edu, or visit www.wiu.edu/coehs/kinesiology/at/.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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