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Dimitrije Cabarkapa, associate director of the Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory at the University of Kansas, talks about force plates—platforms with sensors that measure ground reaction forces to analyze human and animal movement. The students had the opportunity to ask questions after the presentation.
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Cabarkapa talks about basketball players and demonstrates how it works in real time. Gustavo Cadan, co-president of the Washburn Kinesiology Club, was asked to be part of it, and both got some laughs from the public.
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Cadan hands a gift to Cabarkapa as a thank you for his presence at the event. He was invited to the event during the American Conference of Sports Medicine.
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Andrew Fry, recently retired from the University of Kansas Department of Health Sports and Exercise Science, talks about fiber types and MHS expressions. The students watched him intently.
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At the end of the presentation, Fry gives the students an opportunity to ask questions. He answered the questions in a “different way,” making a lot of students laugh.
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At the end, Fry and Cabarkapa ask for a picture with the group. The event counted the presence of more than 80 students.
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Cadan takes a picture with Fry. They met during the American Conference of Sports Medicine.
On Thursday, Nov. 13, the Kinesiology Club partnered with the Kinesiology Department to host the Ichabod Kinesiology Conference 2025 for the first time in Stoffer Science Hall. All kinesiology majors were invited to the event.
The presence of Dimitrije Cabarkapa, associate director of the Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory at the University of Kansas, and Andrew Fry, recently retired from the University of Kansas Department of Health Sports and Exercise Science, brought more than 80 students together.
Fry is a renowned expert in resistance exercise and skeletal muscle physiology. Over his career, he led groundbreaking research, helped establish the Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory and was honored with the NSCA’s (National Strength and Conditioning Association) Boyd Epley Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the field.
“I was invited, but I enjoy speaking about the work I do. And it helps me when I prepare talks like this — it helps me understand better, because I have to think through a lot of the information,” Fry said. “And in this case, this talk, hopefully will be part of the paper that we write in the next year or two.”
The idea of the conference was conceived after strategic planning with new officers of the Kinesiology Club and inspired by a conference where Fry and Cabarkapa spoke. The event aimed to provide students with insights beyond their classroom education, featuring world-renowned speakers. The turnout was significant, with around 80-100 attendees, though only 20 were club members. The club, with around 30-40 members, promotes educational and networking opportunities, including attending the American College of Sports Medicine Regional Conference.
“With the new officers, before school got out in spring, we set some goals, did some strategic planning and they decided they wanted to bring in a speaker to try to do something outside of the classroom, to educate each other,” said Karen Garrison, senior lecturer of Kinesiology and the advisor of the Kinesiology Club.
Gustavo Cadan, co-president of the Washburn Kinesiology Club, organized an event in partnership with the Kinesiology Department to bring renowned sports scientists to Washburn. Inspired by a conference, he reached out to Cabarkapa and Fry from KU, who agreed to speak.
The event aimed to connect students with elite sports science and inspire them to pursue graduate studies. Cadan, also a track athlete, developed a passion for exercise science at Washburn and aspires to become a professor in exercise physiology, focusing on teaching and research with athletes.
“I wished everyone … had [the] chance that I’m having right now to listen to [and] talk with those guys, and to build connections with them,” Cadan said. “…one day I was just thinking, ‘What if I invited them?’ The worst thing they can say is no.”
The event had more people than the expected, and the organizers are planning on a possible future conference for the spring semester.
Edited by Anushma Dahal and Anson Appelhanz and Stuti Khadka
