Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Chay and Jade
Chay Swenson (left) and Jade Martinez (right) will represent the Skyhawks in various S.T.E.M. programs this summer

General Angela Roberts, Assistant AD - Communications

When science meets sport: Skyhawks breaking barriers in S.T.E.M.

DURANGO, Colo. – For many student-athletes, the summer months provide some respite from the daily grind of academics, training, competing, and extracurriculars that college has to offer. For Chay Swenson and Jade Martinez, juniors on the Fort Lewis College volleyball team, this could not be further from the truth.

The duo will be taking the world of S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) by storm, traveling to the east coast and crossing the Atlantic to represent Fort Lewis College in prestigious research internships, funded by the National Science Foundation and the Los Alamos National Labs.

"We have extremely driven athletes on the volleyball team, and that motivation certainly contributes to our team's success. During the recruiting process, I get to know each player on an individual level and learn what they want to accomplish in life," said head coach Giedre Tarnauskaite. "Sports are a fun and important part of our lives, but it is equally important to prepare yourself for life after sports. To see our players succeed outside the volleyball court brings me a lot of joy and pride for the program."

Both Swenson and Martinez have embarked on unique journeys that have led them to this point in their academic and athletic careers. Swenson joined the Skyhawks as a true freshman and immediately dedicated her time and efforts to caring for others through volunteer efforts, specifically during the COVID year when she provided emotional support to patients at the local hospital.

Swenson, who plans to attend medical school with aspirations of working in emergency room medicine, will spend 10 weeks this summer working at Massachusetts General Hospital—the nation's top research hospital. She will also spend time at Harvard and Boston College as she looks at leukocyte temperature dependence functionality as well as its role in inflammation. Swenson, a native of Oregon, credits the professors and resources at Fort Lewis for the opportunity to gain valuable experience.

"At Fort Lewis, especially with the smaller STEM department, the professors truly care about finding opportunities for the students. Whatever they can do to line us up with internships or research positions, they will," said Swenson. "It feels like I get at least one email per day about different opportunities, and I've had professors ask me to do research alongside them. For this specific internship, I found it on my own, but I was led to it by the support of my professors."
 
Chay Swenson
Swenson, an outside hitter from Winchester, Oregon, has played in 31 matches in her Fort Lewis career

Martinez joined the team as a transfer athlete, coming to Durango last year and immediately captivating the coaching staff with her prodigious work ethic. In addition to her desire to outwork her competition, she displayed mindfulness and curiosity about her skills and improvement efforts which are hard to come by in young athletes.

Martinez credits her success to the hard work that she put in immediately after transferring this past fall. Her current path began when she contacted an Engineering professor and asked him to be her official mentor during first semester. Throughout her time shadowing and learning from him, he eventually introduced her to one of his personal mentors who brought her onto the team at Los Alamos National Labs.

Through Los Alamos National Labs, she earned an opportunity to spend a portion of her summer in Geneva, Switzerland where she will work on the P-3 project to engage women in gluon saturation searches in nuclei. The project is a DOE/OS FOA award granted to her mentors at Los Alamos National Labs, who are members of the High-Energy Nuclear Physics team. She will be conducting experimental research through the assembly of a scintillator-based particle tracker prototype while also participating in data analysis from the Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment (LHCb).

"It is hugely important for there to be representation for women in STEM, and the work that I'll be doing this summer will prove that Hispanic women deserve a seat at the table," recognized Martinez. "I want to show children and anybody thinking about joining the field that they can do it as well."
 
Jade Martinez
Martinez spent time at setter in the fall, accruing 156 assists in 27 sets

Martinez will continue her summer with the DarkSide outreach program through Princeton University where she will spend a week studying Physics on campus in Princeton, New Jersey. From there, she will spend two weeks shadowing at the Gran Sasso Lab in Abruzzo, Italy. I would try to explain some of the research that Martinez will be conducting…but it's too complicated for me to understand.

Developed over the past three years, the DarkSide outreach program's purpose is to bring people closer to science by encouraging wider participation in physics overcoming the prejudices that people often have with respect to physics concepts that are considered too difficult.

"When I graduate from Fort Lewis, my goal is to earn a graduate degree while working in the field," said Martinez. "I hope that the company that I work for will invest in my continued education so I can give back to them by providing research and knowledge in the field."

When asked what her dream job is, Martinez coyly said, "I want to work at NASA."

Swenson and Martinez were equally complimentary of the Skyhawks volleyball coaching staff, specifically coach Tarnauskaite, commonly known as "Coach G" due to many people's struggle to pronounce her Lithuanian last name, for her support of their goals. Both acknowledged that the prioritization of their academics and schoolwork allowed them to feel comfortable when pursuing these internship opportunities.

"In addition to the support that coach G gives us to build emotional and mental strength in all aspects of our lives, volleyball has also prepared me to have the confidence to interview and know how to use the Fort Lewis College resources when I need help," recognized Swenson. "I have developed the skills to advocate for myself, and a lot of that comes from volleyball. Coach G has instilled belief in me that I can achieve and reach my goals if I'm willing to work hard for them."

Coach Tarnauskiate has been the Skyhawks' head coach since the spring of 2020. Since taking over the program, Tarnauskaite has coached six athletes to All-Conference nods and 11 athletes have earned Academic All-Conference recognition under her tutelage.

Beyond her ability to coach the sport of volleyball, Tarnauskaite has become a trusted voice of reason for her players—oftentimes providing them guidance, truthful advice, and a shoulder to lean on throughout the academic year. Tarnauskaite gives all of the credit back to her players, though, recognizing the incredible work ethic and desire to succeed that fuels them in academics and athletics.

"I am in awe of the opportunities that both of these players have in front of them," said Tarnauskaite. "While I am in awe, I am certainly not surprised. Both of them are tremendous people and players, and given more years of eligibility, I would choose them over and over again to be part of this team."

Though fans may not always see Swenson and Martinez on a Saturday evening inside of Whalen Gymnasium, they can rest assured knowing that the incredible leaders in STEM will be doing their part to pave the way for future Skyhawks who want to break barriers, travel the world, and enjoy a fruitful career beyond their time in the blue and gold.
 
Volleyball

 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Chay Swenson

#1 Chay Swenson

OH
5' 11"
Junior
Jade Martinez

#12 Jade Martinez

S
5' 9"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Chay Swenson

#1 Chay Swenson

5' 11"
Junior
OH
Jade Martinez

#12 Jade Martinez

5' 9"
Sophomore
S