OVC HONORS KELSO'S WORK AT SOUTHEAST

Tom Kelso, the strength and conditioning coach at Southeast Missouri State University, has been chosen by fellow colleagues in the Ohio Valley Conference as the OVC's 1999 Strength and Conditioning Professional of the Year.

The award, which recognizes coaches who have shown excellence in their strength training and conditioning programs, is sponsored and coordinated by the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

Kelso is now eligible for the 1999 NSCA Strength and Conditioning Professional of the Year national award. The winner will be announced in June.

"This is quite an honor to get recognized, especially because it's my peers who did the voting," said Kelso. "Strength and conditioning training is something most people don't know much about. It's kind of a behind the scenes thing, doing a lot of work people aren't aware of."

Kelso, who coordinates the strength and conditioning programs for all of Southeast men's and women's sports, has been with the university since 1991.

A former track and field athlete at Iowa, Kelso previously was the strength and conditioning coach at the University of Florida.

Kelso said his primary goal as Southeast's strength and conditioning coach is to get all of the school's athletes in the best possible physical shape for their competition.

"We're trying to make everybody get better, to go to the next level, for both male and female athletes," he said. "We try to get their bodies as strong as possible for when they play their various sports."