Rice boasts of one of the top sports medicine programs in the nation. Under the direction of Clint Haggard, Assitant AD, Sports Medicine and Assistant Athletic Trainers Keri Strong, Dawn Stuckey, Candice Villegas, Donna Paplangellin, Nathan Peck and Richie Valdes, Rice athletes receive the very best of care in both the prevention and rehabilitation of injuries.
Haggard, who joined the Athletic Department in 2006, operates from facilities adjacent to the expanded football locker rooms and strength training facilities in Rice Stadium along with Valdes.
Strong, Stuckey Peck and Villegas direct the athletic training facilities for other Rice sports - volleyball, soccer, swimming, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field, and men's and women's basketball. Paplangellin serves the needs of the Rice baseball team at facilities located at Reckling Park.
Rice team physicians, a group that includes some of the top surgeons and diagnosticians in the country, make excellent use of the world-class facilities in the Texas Medical Center, directly across Main Street from the Rice campus. Dr. Leland Winston and Dr. Thomas Clanton, two of the most respected orthopedic surgeons in the nation, serve as co-directors of the sports medicine program. Both are former football lettermen at Rice and are assisted by Dr. Richard Blakely and Dr. Mark Jenkins.
