Vital to any school’s athletic success is a well-rounded, cared-for student athlete.
Davenport, Iowa’s Assumption Catholic High School, can give you numerous examples of its championship-caliber success and its positive, public persona.
One important piece to that successful puzzle, is its ultra-compassionate, ever-dedicated certified athletic trainer, Kaelene Kragenbrink-Voorhees (ATC, LAT, CES, FMS), who is in the middle of her seventh year at the school.
“Kaelene has been a pleasure to have here at Assumption,’’ Wade King, the longtime – and successful – football coach/athletic director at Assumption, said of Kragenbrink-Voorhees, the Regional Coordinator of Athletic Training Services/Quad Cities Region, for Rock Valley Physical Therapy. “Her dedication and commitment to her athletes is displayed on a daily basis. She has great knowledge and has developed positive relationships and trust with athletes, coaches and parents. We are extremely fortunate to have Kaelene at Assumption High School.’’
Recently, the Quad-Cities’ community, through the Quad-Cities River Bandits, the Class A affiliate of Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals, recognized Kragenbrink-Voorhees for her never-ending dedication to bettering the lives of the community she serves.
In a ceremony at Modern Woodmen Park – home to the River Bandits – and with numerous family and friends in attendance – Kragenbrink-Voorhees was honored with the “Community All-Star Award,’’ recognizing her never-ending positive impact on the two-state region through service, safety, volunteerism and education.
“Simply the best at what she does,’’ Greg Miller, a longtime Assumption booster and Quad Cities referee, said of Kragenbrink-Voorhees, the 2018 Iowa Athletic Trainers’ Society’s Secondary School Athletic Trainer of the Year. “She has the respect and admiration of everyone, not just at Assumption, but across the landscape. Everyone knows her, knows how great she is at what she does and truly appreciates how kind she is.’’
A wife and mother of two, Kragenbrink-Voorhees has also played a major role in the unmatched, championship-caliber success Assumption High School has experienced in her time as the school’s certified athletic trainer.
She has witnessed – and helped guide the fortunes – of four consecutive girls soccer championships, two state baseball championships, four girls softball state titles, state titles in girls track, boys soccer, a bevy of state appearances in girls and boys basketball, and a state girls volleyball championship as recently as 2022.
A University of Northern Iowa graduate, Kragenbrink-Voorhees first set her sights on a career in marine biology and then later found athletic training to be the perfect fit. Upon completing her graduate and post-graduate work at UNI, she found Rock Valley Physical Therapy and Assumption High School, two more perfect fits.
“The Assumption community is amazing and wonderful all rolled into one,’’ Kragenbrink-Voorhees said. ‘The athletes, coaches, administration and parents are absolutely amazing. I love each day here. Then there is Wade King, the best at what he does, who is there at every turn to support me. It’s a special family, Assumption. Calling it special might not even give it the credit it deserves.’’
Ditto for Rock Valley Physical Therapy, Kragenbrink-Voorhees says.
“I could go on for days on how great Rock Valley (Physical Therapy) is to me, its commitment to the schools it serves and its patients,’’ Kragenbrink-Voorhees added. “Kelly Kersten (PT, DPT, SCS, ATC/L, Clinic Manager / Northwest, Davenport, Iowa) is amazing. He has been such a great mentor and resource. He’s likely the most unselfish person I know and never gets tired of giving back.’’
And Kragenbrink-Voorhees, forever dedicated, knows something about giving back.
By: Johnny Marx, Storyteller