For the third consecutive year, the Damien High School Sports Medicine Program has qualified for The National High School Sports Medicine Competition (AACI) based on results at the recent NHSSM event hosted at St. Francis High School on March 4th, 2017.
The sports medicine team placed ninth in the small schools division comprised of 579 students from 35 schools representing California, Washington, Kansas and Texas. In California, the team placed sixth. Teams were scored on written and practical exams with mock patients in subject areas such as First Aid, CPR, emergency procedures, medical terminology, legal issues, physiology, anatomy (legs, angle, lower leg) and evaluation. The students will now move on to the first round of the National competition in May.
The students representing the Damien Sports Medicine team at St. Francis were Esteban Arroyo (Upland), Dylan Bender (Claremont), Andrew “Tank” Carrillo (Ontario), Aaron Fontan (Claremont), Elijah McCullough (Chino Hills), Jack Mitchner (Claremont), Beau Ramirez (Chino Hills), Jory Sandoval (Upland) and St. Lucy students Lili Gomez, Alexa Olson, Paige McCaslin, and Kaitlyn Parrish.
Jessica Truax, Director of the Sports Medicine, established the program in 2009. In 2013, Damien joined the National Honors Society of Sports Medicine (NHSSM). In 2015 and 2016, Damien’s Sports Medicine Program placed in the top 10 in the State of California at the annual NHSSM competition. In 2016, Damien’s John Gomez placed third in the nation in the National Sports Medicine Competition (small schools division).