(Posted December 9, 2002)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. - Some of the best baseball, and conditioning coaches from across the country will be converging on Huntingdon for the National Strength & Conditioning Association Pennsylvania State Baseball Clinic. The one-day clinic will be held Dec. 7 at Juniata College.

Doug Smith, clinic director and Juniata strength and conditioning coach, has brought together experts from various fields to teach strength and conditioning principles, specifically aimed at baseball, to any interested party. The clinic will feature some of the most respected conditioning experts in the country. Some of the experts coming to share their knowledge include Frank Velasquez Jr. and Mike Arndt, the strength and conditioning coordinators for the Texas Rangers, along with Darin Thomas, the strength and conditioning coordinator for the University of Richmond.

In addition to these strength coaches, experts from medical and educational fields will serve as instructors, including Babe Mayer who was voted the 1988 National Physical Education Teacher of the Year, along Alan DeGennaro who is the Director of Sports Performance at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

"These clinics are national programs, and it's a great thing to be able to have one at Juniata," said, George Zanic, assistant clinic-director, and Juniata head baseball coach George Zanic said. "It's a testament to the kind of resource Coach Smith is for our athletics department that he can bring in a group of professionals like these for this type of clinic."

Smith has been working as the strength and conditioning coach at Juniata since the summer of 1997. His "office" is in the F. Samuel and Martha A. Brumbaugh Strength and Fitness Center located on the lower level of the Kennedy Sports+Recreation Center. He is responsible for running the fitness center from day to day, including working with each varsity team and developing a workout schedule to enhance each squad's performance both in-season and out of season.

"Coach Smith is a nationally known and recognized expert in this field, and we are fortunate to have him at Juniata involved in our athletics program," Zanic said "There aren't many people who could create an opportunity like this, for people to come and learn from some of the best in the business about conditioning and training for baseball."

Coach Zanic emphasized the opportunity the clinic offers to promote the baseball program at Juniata College as well as earning national recognition for the athletic department in the area of strength and conditioning.

Anyone interested in attending the clinic should contact Doug Smith either by phone (814) 641-3502 or e-mail smithd@juniata.edu.

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Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.