Champions of Active Women

Dr. Katherine Thompson is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Dr. Bing Zhang Department of Statistics at the University of Kentucky. She earned undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Biology from UK and then a Master's and PhD in Statistics from The Ohio State University. Her research centers on developing statistical methods to address biologically-relevant topics in...

Ann Smith, MPA, MT (ASCP), FACHE, now retired, was the Senior Vice President for Hospital Services at UC Health where she was responsible for leading the integration and strategy of the inpatient care across all three UC Health sites. Prior to UC Health, Ann served UK HealthCare in a variety of roles. Having more than four decades of experience in healthcare operations, she is dedicated to fosteri...

Chris Plonsky has worked in college athletics since 1976 and is in her 33rd year at The University of Texas. She is executive senior associate athletics director/chief of staff and the University of Texas senior woman administrator for the Big 12 Conference and NCAA governance. Chris earned a B.S. in Journalism in 1979 at Kent State University, where she was a three-year basketball student-athlete...

Rebecca Vice Bowers graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders. As a speech language pathologist, Rebecca has worked with both adult and pediatric populations in hospital, outpatient, Kentucky First Steps, and school settings. In 2013, she started her own business as an Arbonne Independent Consultant and is a currently a Regional Vice President....

Meg Sutton started her career as a Financial Advisor with Hilliard Lyons in 2013 after three years coaching collegiate lacrosse and soccer at Ohio Wesleyan University. Meg is a graduate of Allegheny College in Meadville, PA where she earned a degree in Managerial Economics and was a lacrosse student athlete. Since returning to Lexington, she has become involved in the Lexington community serving o...

McKenna Reitz is a teacher, coach, inspirational speaker, author, and mother of two girls. McKenna played volleyball at Hope College and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education with a History major. For the past 16 years, she has taught AP Psychology and coached varsity volleyball at Springfield High School in Ohio. In 2015, McKenna was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease called...

This mother-daughter pair has an impressive list of athletic accomplishments. In high school, Tori was an 8x state championship medalist in swimming and track and was awarded the High School Heisman Award and All Sports Association Female Scholar Athlete of the year for her accomplishments in sport, the classroom, and the community. Currently, Tori is a freshman on the University of Kentucky Swimm...

Cheryl Vanderford and her daughter, Grace, join us for this episode. Cheryl is an Assistant Professor in the University of Kentucky Department of Physician Studies. After graduating from UK's Physician Assistant program in 2008, she worked in the Mental Health Service at the Lexington Veterans Affairs HealthCare System. In 2019, Professor Vanderford returned to her alma mater to teach in the Physi...

McKenzie Watson is a second-year graduate student in the University of Kentucky's Sport and Exercise Psychology Program. McKenzie earned her undergraduate degree in Integrated Strategic Communications with a minor in Family Sciences from the University of Kentucky. From 2015 – 2018, McKenzie was a student-athlete on the University of Kentucky volleyball team and won 2 SEC Championships. After grad...

Dr. Christa Hendley, DAT has been part of the staff at Transylvania University as an Assistant Athletic Trainer since November 2017. She has over 10 years of experience in athletic training within high school and collegiate athletics. She completed her Doctor of Athletic Training degree in May 2020 from the University of Idaho, holds a Master of Science in Athletic Training from East Stroudsburg U...

Alli and Jenny Stumler are a mother-daughter athlete pair. Alli is currently a junior, outside hitter on the University of Kentucky Volleyball team who is working towards a degree in Elementary Education. Alli was the 2018 SEC Freshman of the year and was named to the 2019 American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American team. Jenny was a multisport athlete in high school and continued playing...

Dr. Kimberly Kaiser is an Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine and Family and Community Medicine in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. She is also a UK Healthcare Team Physician for the University of Kentucky Athletics and the Head Team Physician for Eastern Kentucky University. She received her medical degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia School...

Dr. Holly Sheilley is the Vice President of Athletics at Transylvania University, where she became the University's first female Director of Athletics in 2013 and was promoted to her current role in 2015. She oversees 23 NCAA-sponsored sports as well as 3 additional co-ed varsity programs. Dr. Sheilley came to Transylvania with a wealth of experience from her previous positions, which include serv...

Dr. Katherine Stone is a licensed psychologist specializing in individual psychotherapy and with a private practice in Lexington, Kentucky. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and a M.S. and PhD in School Psychology from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Stone has over 20 years of experience as a clinician working with children through young adults. She has expertise in treating anxiety disorders, dep...

Leah Edmond is a Lexington native and recent graduate of the University of Kentucky with a degree in Elementary Education. While at the University of Kentucky from 2016 – 2019, she was a student-athlete, playing outside hitter on the volleyball team. During her senior year, Leah earned many honors, including AVCA First Team All-American, AVCA Region Player of the Year, SEC Player of the Year, and...

Dr. Scott Black, MD, is a board certified Family Physician and holds a Certificate of Added Qualification in Sports Medicine. Dr. Black has a Master's degree in Exercise Physiology and holds a certificate in Sports Nutrition. His primary interests involve disease prevention, wellness, and addressing the health and well-being of Kentuckians through the development of highly effective primary care c...

Libby Hurley is the Founder and President of "Together We Tri". Together We Tri is a company that specializes in training and conditioning men and women from all levels of fitness and experience to compete in triathlons. Libby is a 1991 graduate of the Physician's Assistant Program at the University of Kentucky. After graduation, Libby practiced as a physician assistant in General practice in Bran...

Denile Hill is a certified health and wellness coach, certified personal trainer, and owner of The Whole Human Project. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Kentucky and has over 25 years of experience in a variety of settings. Denile has been an athlete throughout her life but lost her identity as an athlete after having two kidney transplants. She has reclaimed t...

Lisa Goodin earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Eastern Kentucky University, a Masters Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Kentucky and a Rank 1 from Eastern Kentucky University in School Leadership. While at EKU she was a member of the women's basketball team and finished her career as the all-time leading scorer in EKU women's basketball history....

Rob Harris completed his fourth season as the strength and conditioning coach for the men's basketball team in 2019-20 after serving two seasons as the assistant strength coach. Rob is responsible for the day-to-day fitness of the men's basketball team. In his six seasons with the program, the Wildcats have won four league regular-season and four tournament titles. Rob is also responsible for the...

Jennifer Gottschalk grew up as a multi-sport athlete participating in dance, soccer, cross-country, and swimming. She went on to be a collegiate swimmer and team captain at Washington State University while pursuing a political science – pre-law degree. Between undergraduate and law school she briefly competed in draft legal sprint triathlons. While in law school, Jen pursued a career in sports wo...

Dr. Gretchen Wells, MD, PhD is a cardiologist at the University of Kentucky Medical Center and has been in practice for more than 20 years. She received her medical degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical School and completed her residency at Wake Forest University, Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC. She then completed a Cardiology fellowship also at Wake Fore...

Tune in to hear guest host, Natalie Jones, interview Jody Shoup. Jody works as an International Corporate Banking Relationship Manager with Fifth Third Bank. Jody has always been active but she only recently started to think of herself as an athlete. She started running and cycling while living in Japan as a way to make friends. She has run races of varied distances and now competes in triathlons....

Claire Kemp is a junior, majoring in Architecture at the University of Kentucky. She also serves as the Ambassador of the University of Kentucky chapter of CHAARG, a women's health and fitness organization. She has actively been a part of the organization for three years as a member of the executive team working to encourage women to live a healthy lifestyle. As part of CHAARG, Claire led multiple...

Jaime Gordon is entering his 18th season as the head coach of Women's Volleyball at Morehead State University and has recently been named Director of Athletics. Jaime led the Women's Volleyball team to seven Ohio Valley Conference regular-season titles and coached the 2011 and 2013 team to a NCAA tournament appearance. He has 400 career collegiate coaching victories and was named the Ohio Valley C...