Sport Sciences Department -Northern State University

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Sport Sciences Department -Northern State University

located on the campus of Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD. for more information visit northern.edu

09/30/2026

🐺Alumni Spotlight: Andy Johnson

Andy was born and raised in Aberdeen, SD and attended Northern State University from 2010-2017. He graduated in 2015 with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology along with a minor in Music. Following his Bachelors, in 2017 he graduated with a Masters of Science in Education in Sports Performance and Leadership. From 2015-2017 he was lucky enough to be the NSU Track and Field Graduate Assistant coaching the sprints and jumps. Andy now lives in Sioux City, IA with his wife Katie and their four children. Andy works at Great West, an Old Republic Company as an Executive Underwriter for Captives in the commercial transportation insurance industry.

Andy started his athletic career a little non- traditionally. As a freshman, he intended to join NSU Track and Field as a walk-on, but he decided to pursue other ventures. After his sophomore year he reconsidered and decided to give it a shot. "I didn’t want to look back at my time at NSU with a “would’ve-could’ve-should’ve” attitude". To his surprise the new coach, Lynne Dingman (Nacke), decided to give him a chance as a walk-on if he was committed to sticking it out and putting in the work.

Throughout his career he achieved many NSIC Conference podium and All-Conference finishes, DII National Qualifying performances, DII National rankings, and NSU school records. Andy competed against future Olympians and National Champions in amazing venues.

Andy had great accomplishments come from his time coaching. He had the privilege to watch incredible young athletes come in and accomplish incredible things on and off the track."Seeing them put the work every day, break personal records, school records, qualifying for National’s, making the NSIC Conference podium, or even becoming DII All-American will always be what I am most proud of".

Reflecting his time at NSU:
"If you want to be successful you need to do the hard things, take responsibility for your decisions, and surround yourself with those who want to invest in you. Northern State University is filled with people who want to invest in you and see you as something greater than yourself even if you can’t see it yet.

09/28/2026

📊Department Spotlight

The University of South Dakota is launching the Governor’s Research in Aging Center of Excellence (GRACE), a statewide initiative focused on helping South Dakotans maintain mobility, independence and quality of life as they age. The center will bring together researchers, clinicians, educators, students and community partners to advance research on healthy aging.

NSU's Dr. Chelsee Shortt is part of the GRACE leadership team, helping contribute to this collaborative effort and its focus on using research to improve health and human performance. The initiative will focus on three key areas: Measure, Model and Maintain — measuring movement, mobility, strength and function; modeling changes to better understand risk and opportunities for intervention; and maintaining mobility and independence through evidence-based programs and resources.

This type of interdisciplinary research highlights how Sports Sciences can play an important role beyond athletics by using human performance research to help people stay active, healthy and independent throughout the aging process. 🏃‍♀️🧠
We’re proud to see NSU Sports Sciences faculty contributing to research that has the potential to make an impact across South Dakota!

09/25/2026

🐺 Student Spotlight: Abby Schauer

Abby is from Sioux Falls, SD and majors in Human Performance and Nursing. Abby is a Northern State Volleyball alumni, with her volleyball career ending in the fall of 2025. She is currently finishing her Nursing Degree with the first ever Nursing class at NSU.

Abby received a scholarship called the NCAA Degree Completion Award, and it is for student athletes who no longer have eligibility to continue playing their sport and receive scholarship funds from the school. "The NCAA Degree Completion Scholarship is a huge blessing in my life as it will assist me in getting to prioritize my education for one more year and help me work towards pursuing my future career. "

After graduation Abby plans to move to Ashley, ND where her husband former NSU Wrestling Alumni Nathan Schauer grew up and began his teaching job. She will work as an RN at Ashley Medical Center while helping with Jr. High and High School athletics, which allows her to use both her degrees.

"I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to receive this scholarship, and I can't thank the NSU volleyball program and faculty who have assisted me through my entire college journey enough. " - Abby Schauer

09/23/2026

🐺 Alumni Spotlight: Daniel Severson

Daniel graduated from Northern in 2018 with his Masters in Sports Performance and Leadership. He lives in Aberdeen, SD with his wife Rebecca who is also a 2018 NSU graduate, their son Archer, and dog Bolt.

Dan works for the Aberdeen Parks, Recreation & Forestry as the Recreation Supervisor. He is in charge of the Aberdeen Aquatic Center and the recently acquired Strode Activity Center and Aberdeen Dome.

Reflecting time at Northern:
"My graduate studies at NSU were a great experience. I worked as the Intramural Sports GA for 2 years while getting my degree and was able to get experience in scheduling multiple sports seasons, tournaments, and different activities. Being from Aberdeen I knew NSU was a great school and was glad I was able to further my education and gain valuable experience in the sports field."

09/21/2026

📊Department Spotlight

Northern States Wrestling Alumni Krayle Stormer worked as an Aerospace Engineer at Baxter Aerospace this summer. "I built a defense aerospace project involving military aircraft. My work was very hands-on and included building electrical hardware, troubleshooting, aerospace-grade testing, and helping iterate designs."

Because of the nature of the projects, Krayle can't share many details about the systems or the capabilities.

"I really enjoyed getting hands-on experience building aerospace hardware and being able to make something go from individual components to a finished system."

09/18/2026

🐺 Student Spotlight: Kenna Remily

Kenna is Junior from Wahpeton, North Dakota and is a member of the Northern State Swim team. Kenna is studying Human Performance in hopes to become a physical therapist.

In her free time when she's not practicing or studying, she likes to have movie nights with her friends and do crafts.

In the future Kenna wants to go to grad school at either USD or UND and finish her degree to become a physical therapist. "I am still deciding if I want to pursue pediatric physical therapy or physical therapy in a hospital setting. "

Reflection on Northern:
"NSU has impacted me in many ways, including making certain connects with the people in Aberdeen, finding my lifetime friends, and having the opportunity to swim."

Goodluck this season Kenna!

09/16/2026

🐺 Alumni Spotlight : Alex Lynn

Alex is a proud Northern Alum earning his Masters of Education in Sport Performance and Leadership in 2022. Alex and his wife Catherine "Kit", live in New Mexico with their two kids and two dogs. His wife is a successful nurse, so their house is a mix of healthcare, higher education, kids, dogs, and enough chaos to keep things interesting.

Alex applied to Northern on the advice of his wife, Catherine Lynn, who was a 2009 graduate, All-Region goalkeeper and Hildred-Wolfe Award winner at NSU. They packed up their things from the Denver area and moved to Aberdeen.

Alex currently works at New Mexico Junior College as the Executive Director of the Learning Commons. Alex oversees academic support and library services, staff development, student-success initiatives, budgets, grants, A.I. initiative, and the continued development of the Learning Commons.

Alex explains his time at northern as this:
"As quite possibly the oldest graduate assistant in Northern Athletics history, I was able to discover my true passion and calling: helping students and student-athletes find success in the classroom and beyond. Along the way, I met some absolutely amazing people, pushed myself in areas that were unfamiliar, somehow managed to keep up with the younger folks, and discovered an unbelievable passion for working with students. Northern prepared me for a new career after my old career. It gave me the opportunity to take a chance on something completely different, discover work that truly mattered to me, and ultimately find the path I’m still on today.
I wouldn’t change a dang thing about it."

Fun Facts:
"Before eventually earning my master’s degree, I was a three-time college dropout."

"I didn’t know I had any family connection to Northern until my wife and I started dating. Once word got around that she had graduated from NSU, I found out my aunt and uncle had graduated from Northern too. Apparently, my family had been running a quiet Northern recruitment campaign for years and just forgot to tell me."

09/15/2026

📊Department Spotlight

"Dr. Keith Pfannenstiel and the NSU Sports Sciences Department partnered with the Aberdeen Wings to provide applied sport science testing for their players. The Testing included InBody body composition assessments, GymAware bench press testing for upper-body power, and force plate testing to evaluate lower-body power and performance.

The results provide coaches with objective information about each player’s physical performance and can help guide future training decisions. Graduate Assistant Griffin Kopp played an integral role in the project by coordinating testing operations and developing a customized Team Testing Dashboard to organize and present the results.

We are proud to support local athletics while giving our graduate students real-world applied science experience."

09/11/2026

🐺Student Spotlight: Brecken Keoraj

Brecken is from Elk River, Minnesota and he is grateful for his opportunity here at Northern. Brecken is studying Human Performance while being a member of the NSU Football team. His plans after graduation are to become a sports performance trainer while opening up his very own gym along with supporting his family business back home.

Reflecting his time at Northern:
"NSU brought me friendships and connections that I will have for the rest of my life."

"Keep betting on yourself and always trust HIS plan." - Brecken

09/09/2026

🐺 Alumni Spotlight: Corey Harrell

Corey is originally from Knoxville, IA and moved to Aberdeen, SD in 2019 to begin his coaching career at Presentation College. After three years of coaching at PC he accepted a position with the Northern baseball team as a graduate assistant.

Corey earned his Masters Degree in Sports Performance and Leadership from Northern in 2024, and is currently the Assistant Baseball Coach at Northern State.

Good luck Corey with the upcoming baseball season, wishing you and the team the best of luck!

Address

1200 S. JAY Street
Aberdeen, SD
57401

Website

http://northern.edu/, https://givingday.northern.edu/p2p/287949/nsusportsciences

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