Aug. 6, 2009

Wayne State University Director of Athletics Rob Fournier announced the hiring of two full-time assistant athletic trainers in Natalie Herter and Amanda Riesterer along with interns Brett Gurden and Ryan Rodd.

Herter joins the WSU athletic training staff after completing her master's degree in kinesiology from Michigan State earlier this year. She received her bachelor's degree in athletic training from Grand Valley in 2007. Herter completed her thesis on "The Effect of Ankle Support on Balance Using the BESS (Balance Error Score System) Test."

While in graduate school, she served as the athletic trainer for the MSU cross country and track and field teams her first year and at Lansing Community College in her second year.

She is a 2003 graduate of Hartland High School. Her sport responsibilities at WSU will include volleyball and softball.

Riesterer comes to WSU after spending the previous year at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. While at UC, she taught several ATEP courses and provided medical coverage to the softball team.

Riesterer earned her bachelor's degree in athletic training from Central Michigan in 2003, and a master's degree in kinesiology from Michigan State in 2008. Her master's thesis was titled "Investigating the Utility of Protective Soccer Headbands in Preserving Neurocognitive Function Following an Acute Bout of Soccer Heading."

In between her two degrees, she worked in the Metro Detroit area providing services in the clinic, personal training, and outreach to local high schools. Her sport responsibilities at WSU will include women's ice hockey, and men's and women's swimming and diving.

Both Gurden and Rodd are Central Michigan undergraduate students in their final year of the athletic training program.