Female Athlete Summit

Inspired Athletx hosted a Female Athlete Summit on January 16. The Summit educated and inspired guests with women's sports medicine experts, champions for women in athletics, and elite female athletes!

Keynote Speakers:

Kendra Stritch

Kendra began her athletic career at 9 years old with slalom racing, followed byrugby and climbing. In the winter of 2007, she began ice climbing.  5 years later, she joined the UIAA Ice Climbing World Tour.  In 2016, she finished 6th overall with three top ten finishes. 

Outside of her athletic endevors, Kendra is a a Strategic Project Manager in manufacturing.  She has a BS in Applied Science and Technology (Engineering, Chemistry, & Business), a minor or Literary and Cultural Studies, and masters work in Quality, Operational Improvement, and Polymer Chemistry.  She is also passionate about conservation, collecting water samples for microplastic analysis, trying out new sports and competitions, like log rolling, kickball, and orienteering, and more traditional sports like skiing, backpacking and scuba diving.

Sara Wegmann

Sara Wegmann is a strong believer in the power of sports to develop the next generation of women leaders.  This passion led her to create Her Next Play, a nonprofit that supports leadership and career development for female athletes.

Through Her Next Play, Sara develops and delivers programs to help female athletes translate their athletic skills and experiences into powerful careers.  She has coached hundreds of athletes as they launched their careers, trained countless teams on career readiness skills, and mentored many young athletes.

Sara has extensive experience in talent development from top companies such as Deloitte, Target, and Merrill Lynch, and is Co-President of the career development company CareerPrep. Sara was a Captain, MVP and All Conference Varsity soccer player at Lawrence University and now plays competitive tennis.  She has a B.A. in Psychology from Lawrence University and an MBA in Human Resources from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.   

Courtney Boucher

Courtney Boucher is a PhD student at the University of Minnesota, studying Kinesology with an emphasis in Sport Sociology. She is a research assistant in the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport and instructor for Research Methods in the Kinesology department. Boucher recieved her masters from the University of Minnesota in the spring of 2019, studying hiring practices of NCAA Divison-I athletic directors.

Before her graduate studies, Boucher was the Assistant Hockey Coach at her alma matter, Gustavus Adolphus College. While at Gustavus, Boucher was named to the 2015 DIII All American Team.  Boucher graduated from Gustavus with B.A. in Chemistry and minor in Political Science. Currently, Boucher works as a video coordinator for the Gopher Women’s Hockey team.

Dr. Erin Ayala

Dr. Ayala is a licensed doctor of psychology at Premeir Sport Psychology.  She completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Women’s Studies from St. Catherine University, followed by her doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology from the University at Albany in Albany, New York. She has worked with athletes in college counseling, career counseling, medical education, inpatient psychiatry, and community mental health over the past several years. In addition to her work at Premier Sport, she serves as a core faculty member at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, where she teaches Applied Sport Psychology at the doctoral level, supervises dissertation research, and mentors psychologists-in-training.

Dr. Ayala participated in track, cross country, basketball, and volleyball as a high school student in Wisconsin.  She began running in graduate school, which led to her participation in triathlon and other endurance sports.  She has completed ten marathons, seven half-distance triathlons (70.3 miles), and one full-distance triathlon (140.6 miles).  Currently, Dr. Ayala is a member of a women’s cycling team in Minneapolis and competes in road, gravel, and cyclocross races.  She claimed a top 10 finish in the Dirty Kanza 100 mile gravel race in 2017, is a two time Dirty Kanza 200 Finisher, and is ranked 6th in the state in criterium racing.  Dr. Ayala has previously volunteered for a couch-to-5k program for domestic violence survivors in Upstate New York, and is committed to introducing more women to the benefits of sport.

Dr. Molly King

Molly King, DPT, ATC is a doctor of physical therapy and certified athletic trainer at Inspired Athletx.  She earned a doctorate of physical therapy degree from The University of Iowa and an undergraduate degree in Athletic Training from Gustavus Adolphus College.  She also minored in coaching at Gustavus and is an American Sport Education Program certified coach.

Molly specializes in manual therapy, dry needling, corrective exercise, and bridging the gap from injury rehabilitation to sport performance enhancement.  She has worked with clients and athletes from youth to professionals, including football, volleyball, tennis, basketball, and baseball athletes, as well as swimmers, gymnasts, horseback riders, and runners.  As a former girls hockey coach, she has a special interest in hockey players, as well as the female athlete. She believes in building a strong foundation of mobility and stability, while integrating sport specific exercises early in the rehabilitation process to help accelerate recovery times for athletes.

Kristina Swanson

Kristina is a registered dietitian with a passion for wellness and sports nutrition. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition, where she was a nutrition intern with Gopher Football, and completed her dietetic internship at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. During her internship she had the opportunity to gain valuable experience in the clinical setting, teaching a cooking camp for kids, working with eating disorders and WIC, and learning from sports dietitians at EXOS.

Kristina works at Hy-Vee where she hosts grocery store tours, provides nutrition education and counseling services, teaches cooking classes, and helps customers find healthy foods to incorporate into their everyday lives.  She also works part time at Inspired Athletx where she provides nutrition consultations and meal planning services to athletes.  Kristina also has a passion for working with athletes as she believes that food truly is fuel for the body and she loves watching athletes reach their nutrition and performance goals.

Kristina athletic resume includes two years on the University of Minnesota rowing team, two marathons, and several half marathons.