by Stephanie Shields
From the court, field, gym and mats, Arizona State student-athletes find success repeatedly. However, the triumphs carry into the classroom as well for several Sun Devil athletes who take on the highly intense major of engineering.
Arizona State University is home to over 20,000 engineering majors as of Fall 2016. For the Fall 2017 semester, 15 of those students are student-athletes working toward their engineering degree.
Kyle Squires, Dean of the Fulton School of Engineering, takes pride in seeing student-athletes within the engineering program succeed in their sports while conquering the heavy workload of the program. He says the curriculum is designed to assist the student-athletes by providing tutoring centers, tutors and professors who can work around travel contingencies the athletes face.
"Here, student-athletes are in this unique position with a lot of opportunities to grow in engineering," Squires said.
Each engineering program requires projects such as building, designing and developing innovative structures. Squires believes it is time consuming, especially when it comes to capstone projects, but sees student-athletes are driven to succeed.
"The student-athletes tend to be pretty successful because they are drive and motivated," Squires said. "They just make it work, so there are a lot of success stories."
With long hours of studying to games and practices, it seems almost impossible to stay on top of demanding classes as well as their sport. Students like wrestling's Tanner Hall and lacrosse's Kristina Coppinger know firsthand what it's like to balance the two, and always find a way to bring home a win on the field and in the classroom.
Tanner Hall
Major: Electrical Engineering
Year: Junior
Sport: Wrestling
"You have to be disciplined and you have to make sacrifices," Hall said. "Wrestling is a sport where you will go as far as you want yourself to go, and as far as you are willing to work to get there."
For the Idaho native, success in engineering classes is similar to success in wrestling: It all depends on how much work is put in. On a typical day, Hall is up near 6 a.m. for practice until 9. Once class and practice is over, Hall's day is just beginning with labs and homework filling his schedule into the evening. Around 10 p.m. Hall calls it a night and tries to find some time for himself. The junior says 10 to 20 hours of his week are dedicated to labs alone.
"Time management is very important. If you don't have good time management skills you aren't going to succeed, and even then it's tough," Hall explained.
Engineering runs in the Hall family, as does wrestling. Hall's father was also a wrestler in college and is an electrical engineer, while his brother is also currently a collegiate wrestler and studying engineering.
The heavyweight wrestler took the bronze in the 2017 NCAA Championship and was the Pac-12 Champion last season. To begin the 2017-18 season, Hall placed second (HWT) at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Kristina Coppinger
Major: Civil Engineering
Year: Sophomore
Sport: Lacrosse
Kristina Coppinger would build houses in her front yard with sticks and Legos as a child. She always knew she had a love and desire to create buildings and structures. The lacrosse defender has a fierceness and hustle on the field, but she knows that the same level of effort goes into her engineering curriculum as well.
"It's hard. There's really no way to sugar coat it," Coppinger said. "I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I'm also happy that my hard work is going to pay off."
Coppinger is inspired to build sustainable structures and would love to use her knowledge to build houses for third-world countries after graduating.
The Kansas City native initially chose Arizona State for the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. The opportunity to play lacrosse for the Sun Devils came as something that was meant to be. Coppinger was in the library one day when she discovered ASU would debut a women's varsity lacrosse team. She ambitiously reached out to Sun Devil Athletics for an opportunity before a coaching staff was even established. Finally after attending camps she was offered a spot on the team and the rest was history.
"It was one of those things where everything just line up perfectly and I couldn't say no," Coppinger said. "This happened for a reason."
She carries the same determination into her engineering coursework as well. Her days consist of class, practice, training, conditioning, studying and homework. Coppinger is also a member of Barrett, The Honors College and finds time to blow off stress with movies and dance sessions with her roommate.
With a new sport and team preparing to kick off its inaugural season, balance and time management is Coppinger's key to success.
"I had to adjust everything from my sleep schedule to drinking water, because when I stress out, it flows into school and lacrosse and I get behind," Coppinger explained.
Looking forward to the upcoming season, Coppinger wants to start off strong and build a tight-sealed team, as well as build up her role as a defender.
"I want us to come out and surprise people with our intensity and hustle," Coppinger said. "I want to shock people."
2017-18 Engineering Student-Athletes
Kevin Benavidez
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Swimming
Jesse Cozens
Major: Electrical Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Football
Nick Dale
Major: Chemical Engineering
Year: Senior
Sport: Cross Country
Miranda Farricker
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Softball
Cody French
Major: Engineering
Year: Junior
Sport: Football
Caleb Mcshanag
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Year: Sophomore (Redshirt Freshman)
Sport: Football
Logan Millican
Major: Civil Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Lacrosse
Ivana Ninkovic
Major: Engineering Management
Year: Senior
Sport: Swimming
Ryan Normand
Major: Civil Engineering
Year: Senior
Sport: Cross Country
Ian Schulz
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Track & Field
Kyle Williams
Major: Chemical Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Football
From the court, field, gym and mats, Arizona State student-athletes find success repeatedly. However, the triumphs carry into the classroom as well for several Sun Devil athletes who take on the highly intense major of engineering.
Arizona State University is home to over 20,000 engineering majors as of Fall 2016. For the Fall 2017 semester, 15 of those students are student-athletes working toward their engineering degree.
Kyle Squires, Dean of the Fulton School of Engineering, takes pride in seeing student-athletes within the engineering program succeed in their sports while conquering the heavy workload of the program. He says the curriculum is designed to assist the student-athletes by providing tutoring centers, tutors and professors who can work around travel contingencies the athletes face.
"Here, student-athletes are in this unique position with a lot of opportunities to grow in engineering," Squires said.
Each engineering program requires projects such as building, designing and developing innovative structures. Squires believes it is time consuming, especially when it comes to capstone projects, but sees student-athletes are driven to succeed.
"The student-athletes tend to be pretty successful because they are drive and motivated," Squires said. "They just make it work, so there are a lot of success stories."
With long hours of studying to games and practices, it seems almost impossible to stay on top of demanding classes as well as their sport. Students like wrestling's Tanner Hall and lacrosse's Kristina Coppinger know firsthand what it's like to balance the two, and always find a way to bring home a win on the field and in the classroom.
Tanner Hall
Major: Electrical Engineering
Year: Junior
Sport: Wrestling
"You have to be disciplined and you have to make sacrifices," Hall said. "Wrestling is a sport where you will go as far as you want yourself to go, and as far as you are willing to work to get there."
For the Idaho native, success in engineering classes is similar to success in wrestling: It all depends on how much work is put in. On a typical day, Hall is up near 6 a.m. for practice until 9. Once class and practice is over, Hall's day is just beginning with labs and homework filling his schedule into the evening. Around 10 p.m. Hall calls it a night and tries to find some time for himself. The junior says 10 to 20 hours of his week are dedicated to labs alone.
"Time management is very important. If you don't have good time management skills you aren't going to succeed, and even then it's tough," Hall explained.
Engineering runs in the Hall family, as does wrestling. Hall's father was also a wrestler in college and is an electrical engineer, while his brother is also currently a collegiate wrestler and studying engineering.
The heavyweight wrestler took the bronze in the 2017 NCAA Championship and was the Pac-12 Champion last season. To begin the 2017-18 season, Hall placed second (HWT) at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Kristina Coppinger
Major: Civil Engineering
Year: Sophomore
Sport: Lacrosse
Kristina Coppinger would build houses in her front yard with sticks and Legos as a child. She always knew she had a love and desire to create buildings and structures. The lacrosse defender has a fierceness and hustle on the field, but she knows that the same level of effort goes into her engineering curriculum as well.
"It's hard. There's really no way to sugar coat it," Coppinger said. "I knew it wouldn't be easy, but I'm also happy that my hard work is going to pay off."
Coppinger is inspired to build sustainable structures and would love to use her knowledge to build houses for third-world countries after graduating.
The Kansas City native initially chose Arizona State for the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering. The opportunity to play lacrosse for the Sun Devils came as something that was meant to be. Coppinger was in the library one day when she discovered ASU would debut a women's varsity lacrosse team. She ambitiously reached out to Sun Devil Athletics for an opportunity before a coaching staff was even established. Finally after attending camps she was offered a spot on the team and the rest was history.
"It was one of those things where everything just line up perfectly and I couldn't say no," Coppinger said. "This happened for a reason."
She carries the same determination into her engineering coursework as well. Her days consist of class, practice, training, conditioning, studying and homework. Coppinger is also a member of Barrett, The Honors College and finds time to blow off stress with movies and dance sessions with her roommate.
With a new sport and team preparing to kick off its inaugural season, balance and time management is Coppinger's key to success.
"I had to adjust everything from my sleep schedule to drinking water, because when I stress out, it flows into school and lacrosse and I get behind," Coppinger explained.
Looking forward to the upcoming season, Coppinger wants to start off strong and build a tight-sealed team, as well as build up her role as a defender.
"I want us to come out and surprise people with our intensity and hustle," Coppinger said. "I want to shock people."
2017-18 Engineering Student-Athletes
Kevin Benavidez
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Swimming
Jesse Cozens
Major: Electrical Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Football
Nick Dale
Major: Chemical Engineering
Year: Senior
Sport: Cross Country
Miranda Farricker
Major: Biomedical Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Softball
Cody French
Major: Engineering
Year: Junior
Sport: Football
Caleb Mcshanag
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Year: Sophomore (Redshirt Freshman)
Sport: Football
Logan Millican
Major: Civil Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Lacrosse
Ivana Ninkovic
Major: Engineering Management
Year: Senior
Sport: Swimming
Ryan Normand
Major: Civil Engineering
Year: Senior
Sport: Cross Country
Ian Schulz
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Track & Field
Kyle Williams
Major: Chemical Engineering
Year: Freshman
Sport: Football