WCU Magazine Fall/Winter 2025

Fueling Success
for Student-Athletes

Over the past 10 years, nearly all 600+ Golden Rams student-athletes have had access to fueling stations staffed by undergraduate nutrition majors, managed by a sports nutrition graduate assistant (GA), and directed by Dr. Christine Karpinski, professor and chair of the nutrition department. The athletes enjoy balanced snacks such as fruit, cheese sticks, trail mix, and yogurt while the nutrition majors earn experience in putting together healthy food choices and better understanding their clients’ needs.

As part of the Sports Nutrition Education and Fueling Program, fueling stations are set up during practices, games, and in locker rooms.

“It's more than just providing food,” notes Dr. Karpinski, who is also a Board-Certified Sports Dietitian. The program is designed not only to offer student-athletes healthy snacks, but to support them in making responsible, nutritious food choices, and to educate them about the ways that a balanced diet is key to optimum performance both on and off the playing field. The approximately 15 to 20 undergraduate nutrition majors who participate “need real-life experience,” she says. “They volunteer to work with athletes and can participate in nutrition education talks and cooking demonstrations.”

The fueling station’s goal is to help athletes ‘top off their gas tank’ to help them go the extra mile and maintain optimal energy levels for their training,” says Cooper Bentz, graduate assistant in sports nutrition. “Other resources include grocery store/dining hall tours, team talks, and much more!”

Student-athlete support takes place at team talks across each semester and during one-on-one consulting sessions “to help [them] discover ways that will help their performance,” says Cooper Bentz, Dr. Karpinski’s GA, who manages those as well as the fueling stations. In the 2024-2025 academic year, Bentz conducted 35 consultations with two-week follow-ups for about half of those students. Student-athletes might discuss in private their specific goals, academic or athletic performance issues, and even their commitment to making nutrition changes.

It's more than just providing food.

 

“But there are only two of us,” Dr. Karpinski emphasizes, for approximately 400+ student-athletes who take advantage weekly of the Sports Nutrition Education and Fueling Program.

There are, however, more people beyond sports nutrition supporting the physical and mental well-being of Golden Rams. The Sports Nutrition Education and Fueling Program is one of the five facets of the Sports Performance Team, assembled in 2023 to enhance the WCU student-athlete experience as part of the Student-Athlete Success (SAS) program. Overseen by Athletics, this interdisciplinary group’s goal is to maximize athletic performance and prepare student-athletes for lifetime impact through a holistic team approach. Four of the five areas are departments within the University’s College of Health Sciences (CHS): athletic training, sports nutrition, sports psychology, and strength and conditioning. The fifth area addressing mental health is handled by the University’s Counseling Center through its director, Dr. Rachel Daltry. Both the Department of Student Affairs and the Department of Athletics are partners in the program.

Our sports nutrition program is as comprehensive as most Division I programs.

 

“Sports performance teams exist at most Division I but very few Division II schools,” notes Dr. Karpinski. “We have more areas than even some Division I programs do and our sports nutrition program is as comprehensive as most Division I programs.”

WCU’s Sports Performance Team is unique in the NCAA for having faculty directly involved. In addition to Dr. Karpinski and Dr. Daltry, Dr. Margaret Ottley, professor of kinesiology, handles sports psychology; Dr. Craig Stevens, professor and chair of kinesiology, manages the exercise science component; his son Bryan Stevens is the Golden Rams’ head strength and conditioning coach; and Rebecca Novak and Jason Kopec represent sports medicine. “Dr. Rick Howard [associate professor] in kinesiology took the lead on formalizing the group,” says Dr. Karpinski. “It's a more cohesive program because of the communication between areas.”

The Sports Nutrition Education and Fueling Program costs approximately $35,000 annually to run and depends upon external donations. Each year, the athletics department provides some financial support and coaches pay a nominal amount. Wegmans Food Markets provides in-kind and corporate support. The University’s food service provider Aramark is a past supporter. Dr. Karpinski established a fund for sports nutrition through the WCU Foundation about eight years ago and in 2024 redirected it to support the interdisciplinary Sports Performance Team.

During the 2024-2025 academic year, in-season teams received the full fueling program while off-season teams were able to get snacks from a centralized fueling station room that was open five days a week for three hours. Dr. Karpinski’s students tracked student athletes’ preferences and evaluated the popularity of various food options. “We supported an average of 400 athletes per week, providing snacks for an equivalent of approximately 1,535 fueling station visits per week.”

In March 2024, Dr. Karpinski hosted WCU’s first “Chopped” competition (like the Food Network’s competitive cooking show) for student-athletes to demonstrate their ability to create a nutritious meal from a box of mystery ingredients. Held in the Sciences and Engineering Center and The Commons (SECC) in the state-of-the-art food lab managed by the nutrition department, it drew five teams. This October, six teams competed in “Chopped 3.”

To support the Sports Performance Team, visit the WCU Foundation site.