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Dr.
Ralph A. Vernacchia, Ph.D.
Department of Physical Education, Health, and Recreation
Director
Center of Performance
Excellence
Western Washington
University
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Ralph Vernacchia, Ph.D.
directs the undergraduate and graduate programs in sport psychology at
Western Washington University, as well as WWU's Center for Performance
Excellence. He has presented extensively on variety of sport
psychology topics throughout the nation and co-authored four sport
psychology textbooks, including “Inner Strength” which was
published in 2003. He is a fellow and certified consultant of the
Association of Applied Sport Psychology (AASP).
Dr. Vernacchia serves as a
performance consultant to the Western Washington University Athletic
Department and is a former Chair of the Sport Psychology Academy of the
American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance
(AAHPERD). He is also Co-Chair of the USA Track and Field (USATF)
Sport Psychology Sub-Committee and has traveled internationally as a
performance consultant with several USA track and field teams, including
the 2000 USA Olympic Track and Field Team that competed in Sydney,
Australia.
He has been inducted into the Western Washington University
Athletic Hall-of-Fame in honor of his accomplishments as Western's cross
country and track and field coach from 1973-1987. Dr. Vernacchia served as
the distinguished visiting professor in the department of physical
education at the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY for the
2003-04 academic year. He was also inducted into the National
Association of Physical Education Hall of Fame in 2005.
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Originally from Vashon Island, WA,
Kelly began developing her passion for sport at a very young age. When she
was 4 years old, Kelly began participating in gymnastics; this was mostly
an extension of the tumbling runs she would do on the field while waiting
to watch her father compete in the sport of pole vaulting. A few years
later, Kelly discovered figure skating and swimming/diving as her
grandfather had played hockey for the US Navy and also had a love for the
water. Both her father and grandfather were an early influence on
Kelly’s passion for sport. When Kelly was 10, her father introduced
her to another sport – downhill skiing. By the time she was 15
though, she traded in the skis for an opportunity to learn another sport
– snowboarding! Around that same time, Kelly also picked up the game
of volleyball which became her junior high and high school sport.
Currently, Kelly still enjoys trying new things, sports, and experiences;
it is a large part of who she is…
These days, Kelly can be found in
Bellingham, WA where she studies applied sport psychology with Dr. Ralph
Vernacchia. Kelly has been working with Dr. V (as his students call him)
for a few years now as she also received her B.S. from WWU in Exercise and
Sport Science with an emphasis in sport psychology. Kelly is currently a
first-year Master’s student in the Human Movement and Performance (Sport
Psychology) program, and focused on a thesis regarding Psychosocial
Characteristics of Successful Intercollegiate Athletes. Mental toughness
and using/teaching mental skills are particular interests to Kelly. Her
favorite new sport to play these days is golf; she finds golf to be the
perfect time to test her own mental game! Kelly also enjoys running,
mountain biking, swimming, hiking, tennis, softball, snowmobiling,
wakeboarding, and the many other activities that began in her youth.
Current
Sport Psychology Graduate Students
Kaylee M. Gardner
Kaylee was born and raised in Bellingham,
WA and completed her undergraduate work at
Washington State University
in 2007. She majored in
Kinesiology and minored in psychology, while competing on the varsity track
and field team for four years for the cougars. She is now attending graduate school
at Western Washington University
(WWU), and working towards her masters degree in Sport Psychology under Dr.
Vernacchia. Kaylee is in her
second year as the men's and women's jumps coach for the WWU track and
field team. She has also been
working as a personal trainer (ACSMcPT) since 2007 at the Bellingham Athletic Club. She works with individual clients,
teaches a gravity class, super senior fitness class, and weights for
women. Kaylee is also currently
helping to coordinate and implement the faculty and staff wellness program
at WWU. In 2008, Kaylee went
back to her alma matter, Bellingham High School,
and coached the sprints and jumps for the men's and women's track and field
team for a season. Kaylee's
future plans include graduating with her masters degree in the spring of
2011, and becoming a certified consultant through the Association for
Applied Sport Psychology. She
then hopes to work with athletes and coaches at all different levels of
sport.
Catherine Rasnack
Catherine
is currently attending Western
Washington University
as a graduate student getting her masters in Human Movement and Performance
with a concentration in Sport Psychology. She currently works as a graduate
assistant in the Physical Education department instructing 100-level
Physical Education classes.
Catherine is focusing on life skills education for student athletes
entering college and hopes to go on to get her Ph.D in the future.
Brian Zuleger
Brian was
born and raised in Freedom, WI.
His undergraduate study began at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
where he studied in the P.E. Teacher Education program with minors in
Adaptive Physical Education and Secondary Health Education before
transferring and finishing his degree at WWU in Exercise and Sport Science
in 2009. While at the UW-Madison, Brian worked with the men’s
track and field team for 3 years as a manager, during which the program
went undefeated in indoor and outdoor conference championships and brought
home a national indoor title in 2007. Brian is in his second year as an
assistant coach with the men's and women's WWU track and field teams. He works with the sprints, hurdles,
relays and multi-event athletes. Brian has also been working as a
personal trainer (ACSM cHFS) since 2008 at the Wade King Recreation Center
on WWU’s campus. Brian competes nationally as a 3-event water
skier (slalom, trick, jump) as well as a member of the WWU club water ski
team. He has spent the last 3
summers sharing his passion for water skiing while working as a water ski
coach at Bow Lake Watersports in Bow, WA. Brian's future plans
include getting his NSCA CSCS certification. Upon graduating from the Sport
Psychology M.S. program in the spring of 2011 he plans to become a college
track and field coach and starting his own personal training business.
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