2024 Award Winners

Personal Trainer of the Year Awarded to Tara De Leon

Tara De Leon is a personal trainer, Professor of Health, Fitness, and Exercise Studies, podcaster, speaker, author, and former Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coach. Tara has helped hundreds of people feel badass and confident by teaching them how to lift weights and get strong, healthy, and empowered. Tara has a Master’s degree in Human...

High School Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year Awarded to Andrew Caldwell

Justin Loudon celebrates his tenth year in education, beginning as a health and physical education teacher and transitioning to the role of a strength and conditioning coach. Currently, he serves as the Head Strength and Conditioning Coach...

Educator of the Year Awarded to Guy Hornsby

Dr. Guy Hornsby is an Assistant Professor at West Virginia University in Coaching and Performance Science (CPS). His primary responsibilities include overseeing the strength and conditioning and applied sport science aspects within the CPS program (Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral). Additionally, he coordinates and oversees a schoolboard-funded...

Nutritional Research Achievement Award Awarded to Katie Hirsch

Katie R. Hirsch is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health. Her research focuses on exercise and nutritional strategies to strengthen and sustain body composition, metabolic health, and exercise performance across the lifespan, with an emphasis on female physiology and women’s health. She contributes...

Sports Medicine/ Rehabilitation Specialist Award Awarded to Helen Binkley

Dr. Helen Binkley is an Associate Professor and Director of the Undergraduate Athletic Training Program at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Physical Education from the University of Delaware and her PhD in Physical Education from Temple University.

Terry J. Housh Outstanding Young Investigator Award Awarded to Dimitrije Cabarkapa

Dr. Dimitrije Cabarkapa is an Associate Director of the Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory at the University of Kansas, part of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance. Strongly influenced by his personal playing experience, Dimitrije’s research interests are directed toward the field of sports science and athlete performance...

William J. Kraemer Outstanding Sport Scientist Award Awarded to Rhodri Lloyd

Dr. Rhodri S. Lloyd is a Professor of Pediatric Strength and Conditioning and the Head of the Centre for Applied Sport Science and Medicine at Cardiff Metropolitan University. His research interests surround the impact of growth and maturation on long-term athletic development and the neuromuscular mechanisms underpinning training responsiveness and injury risk in...

Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year: Justin Lovett

In 2024, Justin Lovett will be entering his fifth season with the Los Angeles Rams and his fourth as Director of Strength and Conditioning. Lovett arrived in Los Angeles after spending three seasons as the Director of Football Strength and Conditioning with the Purdue University Boilermakers.

College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year: Brijesh Patel

Brijesh Patel joined Quinnipiac University in August 2008 as the Athletic Department's Head Strength and Conditioning Coach. Patel previously held the title of Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and was a Graduate Assistant at the University of Connecticut.

Assistant College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year: Kenna Smoak Minnici

Kenna (Smoak) Minnici is in her seventh year as an Associate Strength Coach at Army West Point (Army). Through her time at Army, she has worked with baseball, volleyball, and many other Olympic sports.