Former student athlete's research published in journal

October 12, 2021 (Volume 45, Number 4)
Article by Brian Vernellis

time lapse image of a pole vaulter, dressed in red shorts and black t-shirt, vaulting over a pole outside; the track mats under the pole and on the ground are orange

Alex Peskin, a 2020 graduate and member of the track and field team, studied the impact of warm-ups before athletic competition; his research was published in the American Journal of Undergraduate Research.

A Grand Valley graduate’s senior research project for the Frederik Meijer Honors College was published in the September issue of the American Journal of Undergraduate Research.

Alex Peskin, who graduated in April 2020 with a dual major in biomedical sciences and behavioral neuroscience, was a four-year member of the Laker men's track and field team.

Peskin applied his penchant for pole vaulting to his research, examining if and how an athlete’s warm-up routine affected their performance in competition.

“After analyzing the data, there are clear trends in the people who took more warm-up vaults coinciding with the meets they performed their best in,” said Peskin.

Peskin said not only was there an improvement in physical performance, but mental performance, too.

Psychology professor Robert Deaner served as his mentor and said Peskin handled every aspect of the research.

“Alex told me that all I had to do was guide him, and he would do all of the heavy lifting, which he did,” said Deaner. “His initiative and follow-through were consistently outstanding. I have no doubt he’s going to be a huge success in medicine or anything else that he pursues.”