Engineer Student Athletes and Manager: Commitment to Excellence in the Classroom, Laboratory, and on the Fields and Court

Time management is a challenge for every student in the College.  From classes, to laboratory research, family and work responsibilities and more, all of our students have  difficult “balancing acts.” Perhaps none of them more so than the CECS student athletes and those who support the MOCS’ teams behind the scenes.  With mandatory times for practice, competitions, travel, and workouts which often conflict with lab works and studies, these students have unique challenges which  often put their academic and physical prowess to the proverbial test.  Three of our multi-talented student athletes are Karina Jensen, Brandon “Chase” Clouch, and CJ Board.  The term, STUDENT athlete (please note the all caps…..), is sometimes a hackneyed phrase, but it is truly applicable when describing these three engineers as well as Electrical Engineering major and football MOC Wil Young, and tennis MOC and Chemical Engineering major Lucas Plesky.

Collierville, TN native Karina Jensen has completed her freshman year as an aspiring Civil Engineer and a formidable defender on the Lady Mocs Soccer Team.  Karina wears # 29 on the field and relishes both  “playing on the soil, and learning how its composition effects the science of Civil Engineering.”   She is a  dedicated student with plans to apply her Civil Engineering degree to enlistment in the US Coast Guard. Brandon “Chase” Clouch, is a rising senior  majoring in Mechanical Engineering, who has been on the Dean’s List every semester since matriculation. Chase calls Chattanooga home, and began work as an equipment manager in high school. As team manager for the Lady Mocs Basketball Team, he is required to be at all practices, and goes on all road trips with the squad. However, that is just where his work begins.  From laundry to equipment inventory to helping with stats, he spends countless hours in support of the highly successful Southern Conference Champion team.  CJ Board got an “excused absence” from his graduation on May 6^th, as he had recently reported to the Baltimore Ravens, signed as a wide receiver free agent.  With 47 career starts, 146 catches for over 2,000 yards, and 10 touchdowns to his credit as a football MOC, CJ ranks 6^th in all-time receptions and 5^th in all-time receiving yards in MOCS Football history. What the Clarksville, TN native takes even greater pride in is earning his BS: Civil Engineering degree with multiple semesters on the Dean’s List, the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll,  and membership on the Southern Conference All- Academic Team.

These three engineers follow a College tradition of commitment to excellence in both academics and athletics. CECS alumna, Mechanical Engineer, and  outstanding Lady MOC Basketball player Julie Copeland Christian is a 2016-17 inductee in the UTC Athletics Hall of Fame.  Dr. Charles “Chuck” Margraves, CECS Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, is an alumnus of the College and former Southern Conference Cross Country Champion.