Lamar sports information

BEAUMONT — Kristin Willeford has been named as the Lamar assistant athletic director of sports medicine, athletic director Marco Born announced Monday Afternoon. Willeford will directly with Cardinals football, while overseeing all 17 varsity sports.

“We are very excited to announce Kristin as our new assistant athletics director of sports medicine,” Born said. “We had a great pool of candidates for this position and Kristin was at the very top of that list. I know I speak for all of our coaches when I say the health and well-being of our student-athletes is of the utmost importance. Kristin is well-respected in the industry and we’re very proud to have her as part of the LU family.”

Willeford comes to LU from Portland, Oregon, where she spent the previous two years at Portland State. During Willeford’s time in Portland, she served as the assistant athletic trainer providing coverage to the Viking softball and football teams. A certified athletic trainer who holds several licenses, Willeford also served as the athletic department’s mental health training coordinator and NCAA drug testing program coordinator.

In addition to her duties with the PSU football and softball programs, Willeford oversaw the graduate assistant athletics trainers for women’s basketball.

Prior to Portland State, Willeford spent three years at Furman in Greenville, South Carolina, working with the Paladin football program beginning in 2015. Before heading to Furman, Willeford was a graduate assistant athletic trainer with the Illinois State football program from 2013 to 2015.

Before returning to school to complete her graduate work, Willeford served as an Industrial Health Specialist with Concentra in Enid, Oklahoma. In this position, she worked with a variety of industrial employees to reduce workplace injuries and improve industrial safety regulations.

Willeford has extensive experience in the evaluation and treatment of work related injuries as well as the treatment and rehabilitation of injuries associated with contact and collision sports. She holds additional certifications in Graston manual therapy technique and is a certified concussion management specialist.