By DAVID SVIEN
Marin Winger is always striving for excellence.
The Coupeville High School freshman is a busy bee, spending time participating in cheer, basketball, and track and field.
Add in the Lion’s Leo Club and Exec Board, and Winger has little down time.
But she still has pursued opportunities for academic achievement as well, both in the classroom in Coupeville and at other locations.
Inspired by her own experiences with athletic injuries — she hurt her Achilles tendon and suffered a concussion — Winger applied for and was accepted to a summer Sports Medicine program at Wake Forest University.
While there last summer, she received instruction on athletic injuries such as ACL tears, joint dislocations, concussions and traumatic brain injuries, as well as spinal cord treatment.
Using the cases of top-level professional athletes from the NFL, NBA, and track and field, the course demonstrated how the injuries were treated and their outcomes.
The month-long class gave Winger a chance to work alongside students from around the world.
Initial studies focused on anatomy, diagnostic and surgical procedures, and prospects for recovery.
Students were taught how to diagnose shoulder dislocations, how to manage injuries onsite, and the importance of properly using weightroom equipment and warm up exercises.
To cap the class, Winger did a graded project in which she created a hypothetical patient with an Achillies rupture, outlining how to make diagnosis and creating potential treatment plans.
She presented this to university staff, which includes a director who has extensively worked with professional sports teams.
Reflecting on the class, Winger told the Coupeville Lion’s Club she had been drawn to it by a desire to learn the best ways to remain healthy as an athlete.
“I wanted to take this class because I had injuries that I found frustrating,” she said. “And I figured there were going to be more to come.
“I wanted to better understand what caused the injuries, how to prevent them, and what was involved in recovery.”
