Intramural Sports A Fun Way to Get Involved

Jason Gong Staff Designer

Whether you’re an all-star athlete or a rookie, you’ll love the fun and competitive edge of Embry-Riddle Intramural (IM) Sports. Playing intramurals is part of the college experience, and we strive to make the experience memorable, fair, and fun for everyone. Team leagues and individual sports take place year-round and include but are not limited to flag football, volleyball, basketball, dodgeball, soccer, softball, pickleball and more!

IM Sports provide students of all experience levels— beginner, intermediate and advanced—a chance to enjoy friendly competition while achieving healthy lifestyle goals. Off the field and away from the court, IM Sports offer opportunities for students to become leaders and gain valuable management skills.

“I joined IM Sports because I wanted to be active, get a little extra exercise, and meet new people. I’ve gotten to expand my circle of friends through intramurals, which has greatly impacted my time at Embry-Riddle for the better,” said student Diogo Horta. “I would definitely recommend people to join because it allows those who already know how to play the sport to be competitive without having to join a club team,” student Papa Abdoul Sene said. “It allows new players to pick up the game pretty easily.”

“Truthfully doing intramurals can be a little difficult around finals time, but spending time with friends is always worth it,” student Dylan Sowma said.

Intramurals also yield a refreshing take on team sports, giving the satisfaction of competing athletically without the rigorous and demanding schedule which many athletes may need a break from. This also opens the door for those who may have never played a sport to try it out in a low-stakes environment, where the only requirement is a desire and willingness to participate.

Whether you seek to score goals, throw touchdowns, or sink putts, you’ll discover that Intramural Sports are a great way to get involved on campus and make new friends. Don’t miss your opportunity to be a champion at Embry-Riddle!

We are graduate and undergraduate students in the Research in User eXperience (RUX) Lab in the Department of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology. RUX investigates the usability and user experience of technology in our everyday world. This is a regular column that explores different technologies typically used by Embry-Riddle students.

Carmen Van Ommen, Emily Rickel Graduate Researchers

Dr. Scott Ferguson joined the ERAU Department of Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology in 2022. He currently leads the Integrative Aerospace and Exercise Physiology (IAEP) Lab. The IAEP Lab recently collected data at the Rolex 24, an annual 24-hour sports car endurance race held in Daytona Beach. Members of the RUX Lab met with Dr. Ferguson and Aviv Lemke, one of his student research assistants, to learn more about the IAEP Lab and collecting data during the race.

RUX: Can you tell us about your lab and what you research?

Dr. Scott Ferguson (SF): Our lab is focused on stress and how it affects human performance.

We are mostly focused on how stress affects cardiopulmonary and muscular performance.

RUX : What kind of studies do you do in your lab?

Aviv Lemke (AL): Right now, we have been researching vascular function. We had the opportunity to study race car drivers at the Rolex 24 and we were able to get measurements preand post- race to see if stress impacts vascular function.

RUX : Could you give more information on the Rolex study? What was the purpose, what do you hope to find?

SF: We are trying to understand what the stresses of daily living are doing to cardiopulmonary function and muscles’ ability to transition from rest to exercise.

Everybody transitions from rest to exercise frequently throughout the day. Exercise can be something simple, such as walking around or going up the stairs. Aging and cardiovascular disease make it more difficult to accomplish these types of tasks.

We like to study elite athletes, such as professional race car drivers, to ob- serve the body at peak performance. If we can determine how an elite driver mitigates all kinds of stress, such as sleep deprivation, we can then learn more about what techniques these individuals use to mitigate stress and apply them to help people who cannot handle stress as well.

RUX : What does data collection look like?

AL : We used a tool called NIRS (near-infrared spectroscopy) which uses near-infrared light to measure the concentration of oxy- and deoxygenated hemoglobin with the skeletal muscle. We then occlude, or tie off, the driver’s arm to keep blood from flowing into the forearm for a short period, then release the occlusion to measure hyperemic (increase in blood flow) response.

RUX : Our lab is more focused on how people interact with technology or systems from a usability or user experience perspective. How would studying stress relate to something like usability?

SF: An example could be measuring physiological outcomes of different interfaces. If you have stressors when racing, that can impact cognitive performance and ability to work with the interface you have in front of you.

Same with pilots. Understanding physiological response from their interaction with one system versus another could be a means of assessing the impacts of usability. If you have less physiological decay from one system to another, then that can assess the ability of the interface to work. It’s reducing physiological strain.

RUX : We would love to hear more about what it’s like being a student in this lab. Aviv, could you tell us more about yourself?

AL : I am in my last year of the Aerospace Physiology program, and will be graduating in May. I’m also in my first semester of the accelerated Human Factors Masters program. In the future, I’m hoping to continue in school at the PhD level to continue learning and researching.

RUX : How did you get involved in the lab as a student?

AL : I took Dr. Ferguson’s exercise and physiology class last semester and asked him if he had a lab. He was in the very early stages of building his lab, so I was able to help out with setting it up.

RUX : What does your role as a student researcher/ assistant look like?

AL : Right now, I’ve taken a lead student role. We have a few undergraduate students in the lab and another graduate student. A lot of my job is helping with data collection, such as at the Rolex race, and we are analyzing that data now. I’ve also been helping to set up the lab, developing protocols and building equipment. Eventually, I would like to figure out my own protocols for my own research projects.

SF: Aviv is being modest. She earned her leadership position and has been essential in setting up the lab. All of a sudden, we got this invitation to collect data during the race, and had to figure out what research protocol to use and how to execute the protocol we chose. She spearheaded a lot of that work.

RUX : What has being in this lab helped you do or learn? How will that help your future career goals?

AL : Being in this lab, I’ve learned a lot from Dr. Ferguson about life as a graduate student and where I can take my career. In the near future, we will be going to a conference, which is a great networking opportunity and it will help me figure out where to get my PhD. e rst ERAU record to fall was in the triple jump on Feb. 16. Mikaela Miles broke her own record with a leap of 12.06m (39-6.74) to nish rst. A week later, she did it again. e freshman bettered the ERAU indoor record she set 12 days prior with a leap of 12.10m (39-8.5) to nish second overall and the Boston University Last Chance Indoor meet. e o ense provided just enough run support to beat Carson Newman 1-0 and later upset the Railsplitters 2-0 in ERAU’s rst meeting with those two programs. e victory over Lincoln Memorial (15-9) also marked career win No. 200 for head coach Kelsi Dunne Diaz, who is in her ninth year at the helm of the program.

I’ve also been learning how to write papers and learning so much about how to get to where I want to be one day.

RUX : Do you have any advice for students?

AL : I would say being present and putting in the work will help you out a lot. I don’t get a grade for this stuff, I do it because I enjoy it and it will help me in the future.

SF: Don’t let research intimidate you. Show up, be there, and be open-minded. Be a good follower to learn how to be a good leader. Once you perform well as a follower, you will find yourself in leadership roles.

Two school records and a provisional qualifying time marked the Embry-Riddle Women’s Track & Field team’s nal performances of the indoor season.

Miles’ mark meets the NCAA II qualifying standard and puts her at 17th in the nation this season. She now owns 17 of the top 20 triple jump marks in Embry-Riddle history.

On Feb. 9, Arian Anderson shattered the ERAU indoor 3000m record by nearly 23 seconds. A week later, she returned to the Alachua County Sports Complex and shaved more than two seconds o that time, winning the Feb. 16 race in 9:57.47. On Feb. 19, Anderson etched her name in the outdoor record books. Running by herself, she nished the 3000m Steeplechase in 10:46.78, which was 44 seconds faster than the previous record set by Julie May eld in 2010.

Pitching was the storyline in day two of the NFCA DII Leado Classic as the Embry-Riddle so ball team shut out both Carson-Newman and No. 18 Lincoln Memorial.

Loa Johannsson shattered ERAU’s 54-hole record on Tuesday as she carded a 218 at the World Golf Invitational, hosted by Flagler on Feb. 7. e youngest student-athlete in Embry-Riddle Athletics history, Johannsson shot a 73 in her nal round, nishing tied for seventh individually in the 81-player eld, leading the Eagles (921) to an 11thplace showing in a stacked eld at the Slammer & Squire.

In just his fourth game wearing the Blue and Gold, Isaiah Hines set an Embry-Riddle single-game scoring record to lead the Eagles to a 18-15 win over Montevallo (1-2) on Feb. 17 at the Falcons’ Track and Field/Lacrosse Stadium. Hines was e cient on o ense in Friday’s game tallying a program-best nine goals on 12 shots. Hines also set the Eagles’ single-game record in points with 10.