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Meet the Team: Jen Mandeville
October 14, 2015 09:10 PM | Wrestling
Over the next few months, we’ll be profiling the team behind the WVU wrestling team – the coaches and staff members who play an integral part of preparing the Mountaineers each season.
Balancing academics and athletics at the Division I level is a challenge for most student-athletes. Rather than a traditional college life, student-athletes survive a hectic schedule filled with lifting, class, practice, homework, treatments and travel. Most importantly, they must maintain specific grade point-averages and credit hours to remain eligible to compete.
The Student-Athlete Development staff at West Virginia provides support for the academic portion of the Mountaineers’ schedule. Each athletic program is assigned a staff member from the department whose responsibilities range from arranging schedules and providing tutors to overseeing study hall and tracking grades.
Jen Mandeville came to West Virginia in 2014 and has worked with the WVU wrestling program since then. Mandeville previously served as an academic advisor at Rutgers from 2013-14, working with the Scarlet Knights’ wrestling program as well as field hockey and football. In addition to wrestling, she oversees rifle, tennis and swimming and diving for the Mountaineers.
“This is my second year with WVU wrestling,” says Mandeville. “I work with the guys to create academic plans for their time here at WVU, ensure they are in the proper classes to maintain eligibility, work on building study skills for academic success and help guys locate the support they need to be successful.”
One of the challenges in dealing with wrestling in particular is the schedule. The competition season for wrestling runs from the beginning of November through mid-March, meaning it spans both semesters rather than just one like football, soccer or baseball. While other student-athletes can save courses for their offseason if they are only offered at certain times or come with a lot homework, wrestlers don’t have the option to do so and must strive for balance all year long.
“The guys don’t have an off semester so they can’t push any classes off,” she says. “They have to learn how to compete in school and on the mat simultaneously.”
In the time since coach Sammie Henson took over the WVU wrestling program and Mandeville was appointed the academic liaison, the Mountaineers have seen several improvements in their GPA and APR. Much of this is attributed to changes Mandeville has implemented since the summer of 2014.
“(We do) mandatory study hall on Sundays, weekly one-on-one meetings and class checking,” says Mandeville. “Together, Sammie and I have changed the team culture about academics.”
The wrestlers have risen to the challenge. Seniors Tim Wheeling, a Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering major, and Chris Nelson, who is majoring in Political Science, earned spots on the Dean’s List with near-perfect GPAs. Sophomore Joe Wheeling earned mention on the 2015 Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team following his freshman season.
“I’m impressed by the variety of majors we have on the team,” says Mandeville. “We have a wrestler in every undergraduate college. Not many teams can say that.”
Mandeville and the Mountaineers will look to improve upon what they have achieved so far in the future.
“My goals are to raise the team GPA, have 100 percent graduation success rate and a perfect academic APR,” she says.
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