Exercise Science Students Present Research at Annual Meeting

EWU exercise science students turned out in full force for the 2026 American College of Sports Medicine’s Northwest Annual Meeting held April 2- 3 at the University of Idaho.

Thirty undergraduate and three graduate students, all members of the university’s student-run Exercise Science Club, attended the meeting with exercise science faculty members Katie Taylor, Melissa Elfering and Kristyne Wiegand, who serves as the annual meeting director and president of the ACSM Northwest Chapter.

The students made 13 presentations representing their research, much of which was conducted as extracurricular work. In addition, eight groups competed in the Student Knowledge Bowl. The group that included Sophia Eltrich, Kristinn Henderson, and Kalista Malone placed third among the 24 teams that competed.

Eleni Holmes, one of the EWU undergraduates who presented her work at the meeting, said the conference provided a great forum for building professional connections.

“Having the opportunity to be around many bright minds in differing parts of their career and life paths was an incredible experience,” said Holmes, who was elected to the ACSM Northwest Executive Board at the meeting. “In one moment, you could be hearing about the personal life experiences of a physician and what brought him here today or watching a group of students work together to beautifully present their research for the first time ever.”

Students Sophie Breaker, Brooke Whited and Aidan Lyon, received the Attendee’s Choice Award for their poster presentation titled, “The Effects of Carbohydrate Ingestion on Compression-Only Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Performance.”

Jaime Tovar, who is working toward a bachelor’s degree in lifestyle medicine, said the annual meeting helped bring his ambitions into focus: “Connection with experts and the community, understanding not every path is the same story or a direct shot into your dream career, [was a great way] to take my first step into the exercise science world,” Tovar said.

Meena Jain, who is pursuing a master’s degrees in exercise science, appreciated a lecture she attended that detailed how cognitive behavioral therapy reframing could be used in high intensity interval training workouts. “It definitely brought some concepts full circle for me,” Jain said.

**Thank you to Katie Taylor, associate professor of exercise science for writing this story.