Kinesiology students bring home awards, recognition from Southeast American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting

The School of Kinesiology in Auburn University’s College of Education was well represented at the annual meeting of Southeast American College of Sports Medicine (SEACSM) held at the end of February in Greenville, South Carolina. Graduate and undergraduate students in attendance received accolades for their presentations, which were shared widely with those in the sports medicine industry.

“Our students, both undergraduate and graduate, represented Auburn University and the School of Kinesiology well at the recent SEACSM annual meeting,” said School of Kinesiology interim director Matt Miller. “The awards and honors they received are a testament to their hard work and to the dedication of our faculty to providing exceptional learning opportunities for our students. These accolades are especially noteworthy as this year’s meeting was SEACSM’s largest ever, with more than 1,300 attendees. Our students continue to raise the bar and set a standard of excellence, and we are proud that this work was recognized by their peers and leaders.”  

Bahman Adlou, a December 2025 graduate of Kinesiology’s doctoral program, received the Biomechanics Interest Group (BIG) Doctoral Research Travel Award, which recognizes the top-rated doctoral abstract in the conference's biomechanics track. Adlou's study, “Motor Adaptation in Obstacle Clearance Is Dictated by Perceptual Threat Dynamics,” examined how the motor control system adjusts foot clearance when navigating moving obstacles. Since completing this research, Adlou has joined the United States Soccer Federation as a biomechanist supporting elite athlete performance through research and data analysis.

Cole Bordonie, a graduate student in the Warrior Research Center, has served as a student representative for SEACSM for the past two years. During this time, he helped create and deliver social media content, plan and execute SEACSM Annual Meeting activities, and most importantly, interact with faculty and students within the SEACSM community. While serving as student rep he was also added to the SEACSM Strategic Planning Committee, which he will continue to serve on for the next three years. Bordonie will finish his service as student rep following the national ACSM Annual Meeting in May where he will finalize his time as an ACSM Student Affairs Committee member. 

Sofia Byrd, an undergraduate exercise science student who works in the Sports Medicine and Movement Lab, received the Wendi H. Weimar Undergraduate Research Award from the Biomechanics Interest Group for her poster presentation on “The Impact of Shoulder Rotation on Fastball Velocity and Elbow Valgus Torque in Collegiate Pitchers.”

Kai-Jen Cheng, a graduate student who works in the Sports Medicine and Movement Lab, was selected as a finalist for the Doctoral Student Research Award for his presentation on “Using Machine Learning To Identify Critical Biomechanical Factors For Fastball Velocity In Live Games.”

Bria Smith, a graduate student in the Locomotor and Movement Control Lab, was elected student representative at the SEACSM meeting, stepped into a role as a student chair for the Health Equity Research Special Interest Group, and served on the committee as a mentor for the SEACSM First Time Attendees award.