Lifestyle Wellness Panel:
Empowering Athlete Development Across the Lifespan

​"Empowering Athlete Development Across the Lifespan" is a wellness panel focused on supporting athletes at every stage of their journey, from youth to retirement. Experts in sports education, physical training, and athlete wellness will discuss strategies for fostering physical, mental, and emotional growth. The panel will explore how to promote peak performance, manage injury prevention and recovery, and ensure long-term well-being. Attendees will gain insights into balancing athletic goals with overall life development, cultivating resilience, and adapting to transitions throughout an athlete’s career. This discussion aims to equip athletes, coaches, and supporters with tools for sustainable success.

​Panel Moderator

Geoff Roche, a former Bulldog student-athlete and coach, currently serves as the University of Redlands' first Athletics Advancement Officer. In this role, he focuses on securing philanthropic support for Bulldog Athletics. Roche’s career highlights include serving as head coach for the men’s and women’s tennis teams from 1999 to 2021, during which his teams qualified for the NCAA Championships for 18 consecutive seasons. He was twice named ITA/Wilson West Region Coach of the Year and received the USPTA California Division College Coach of the Year award in 2008. Roche also led the 2001 men’s team to a third-place NCAA finish.

Panelists

Dr. Ken Lane - Wrestled for Hall of Fame Coach Alan Polite at Bakersfield High School and was a league champion and California Interscholastic Federation medalist. After wrestling at UCLA, Dr. Lane became a Family & Sports Medicine Specialist, and he has been a Team Physician for USA Wrestling for 25 years. He served at National, World and CIF Championships, in NCAA tournaments and for Olympic Trials. In 2019, Dr. Lane made a contribution to begin the Legacy Giving Program for USA Wrestling and said that "wrestling not only changed my character, but it also changed my life.

Dr. Lisa Misipeka - Lisa is an American Samoan athlete who specializes in the hammer throw. She was the first woman to represent American Samoa at the Olympics. In addition to being a 3-time Olympian, she is also an 11-time NCAA All-American, 5-time NCAA Academic All American, and 2-time NCAA Champion. As South Carolina Woman of the Year, she has been inducted into multiple Halls of Fame, including: Southeastern Conference, University of South Carolina, City of Riverside and Temecula Valley High School. She is also the first ever American Samoan Track & Field Athlete to earn the bronze medal in the 1999 World Championship. Lisa has over 20 years of NCAA college recruiting and coaching experience and founded the Beyond Today Sports Institute, successfully training over 300 middle school and high school student athletes to achieve success which have earned them scholarships to prestigious colleges.

​ Jill Rooks – personal trainer, instructor, and owner of the Energy Lab Jill is a passionate person. She believes our bodies want to be well and that she can help create the best version of yourself as she is someone seeking to create the best version of herself. She has been in the fitness industry since 1998 and has an unwavering commitment to maintain her health, strength and energy so that she can help others to unveil and maintain theirs.

​Connor Truhitte was named Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at the University of Redlands in October 2021, overseeing athletic performance programs for men’s and women’s varsity teams. Previously, he was an Associate Sports Performance Coach at Stanford, focusing on football development. He began his career at Fresno State, where he contributed to a Mountain West football championship and coached conference champions in swimming. Truhitte holds a master’s degree in Education from Fresno State and a bachelor’s in Kinesiology from the University of La Verne, where he played football and earned two All-Conference honors. He holds multiple certifications in strength and conditioning.