Human Performance and Wellness Announces Two Additions

OXFORD, Ohio – Miami University's Human Performance and Wellness department has hired Fiona Lefresne and Catherine Czabala. Lefresne will serve as an Assistant Athletic Trainer and Czabala starts as a Fellowship Athletic Trainer.

Lefresne will work primarily with the RedHawks' baseball and tennis programs.

"I am delighted to have Fiona Lefresne join the Wellness Services team," said Assistant AD for Wellness Services Jennifer Beardslee. "Fiona philosophically matches up wonderfully with our department. She truly understands what it means to provide optimum healthcare with her background in the functional movement screen, preventative rehabilitation programs and emergency preparedness at the collegiate level."

Lefresne comes to Miami after serving as an athletic trainer for Maine Maritime Academy the past two years. In this position she provided care for 17 athletic programs at the collegiate and club level. Some of her duties included assessing injured athletes, revising the department policies and procedures manual and creating injury rehabilitation programs.

Prior to her two years with Maine Maritime Academy, Lefresne served as the primary athletic training provider for Parkview High School in Springfield, Mo. through Mercy Sports Medicine from 2021-23. In this role, she provided daily injury evaluation and treatment, concussion management and implementing return-to-play protocols, physician referrals, rehabilitation of minor injuries and pre-surgical cases. She also maintained medical records and monitored weather and environmental conditions during practices.

Lefresne previously served as a graduate assistant certified athletic trainer in Mercy's Sports Medicine Outreach Program (2019-21), where her primary responsibilities included providing care for Reed Middle School and Hillcrest High School. She also provided athletic training coverage for numerous Missouri State club teams and spent time with Missouri State's baseball team during her clinical rotation in 2019.

Lefersne received a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training in 2019 and earned a Master of Science in Athletic Training in 2021 from Missouri State.

"I'm both excited and grateful for the opportunity to join Miami Sports Medicine and Miami Athletics, and to contribute to the continued development of the RedHawk baseball and tennis programs," said Lefresne. "I am thrilled to join an environment where I will be working collaboratively with coaches, strength and conditioning professionals and my sports medicine colleagues to keep all Miami student-athletes healthy and safe, and to provide athletic training support for our student-athletes to achieve their team and individual goals."

Czabala will work primarily with the Miami Field Hockey program.

"I am thrilled to have Catherine join the Wellness Services Team," said Beardslee. "It is always great to have one of our own join the staff. She is very hardworking, conscientious and has a ton of potential. Her future is very bright."

Czabala most recently spent time within the Miami athletic department as an athletic training student with Miami Football. She collaborated with other athletics trainers to provide comprehensive coverage during practices and games, conducted injury evaluations, delivered basic first aid and acute injury care on field, documented daily injury reports, made rehabilitation progress notes, maintained accurate medical records, accompanied team physicians during on-field emergencies and clinical appointments, applied advanced taping, wrapping, and bracing techniques tailored to football-specific injuries and aided in design and implementation of individualized rehabilitation plans.

Prior to her experience with the football team, she spent time with a variety of sports at Miami (2022-23) and she also assisted at Talawanda High School (2023) as an athletic training student. With Miami, Czabala applied preventative taping, wrapping and bracing techniques to reduce injury risk and improve athlete performance. She also contributed to injury rehabilitation, reported injury updates, traveled with athletic teams to assist in medical coverage, managed supply inventory, restocked equipment and maintained sanitation standards. While assisting at Talawanda High School, she supported the on-site Certified Athletic Trainer in managing daily operations of the athletic training room, ensuring efficient care for student-athletes. Czabala's duties included performing lower extremity evaluations on student-athletes with ankle, knee, and hip injuries, building clinical assessment skills, instructing athletes through supervised rehabilitation exercises and reinforcing therapeutic techniques and communication abilities. She also helped support medical coverage of high school athletic events.

Czabala received a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology in 2024 and earned a Master of Athletic Training in 2025 from Miami University.

"I am excited for this opportunity to continue my time at Miami, from a student to staff member," Czabala said. "Miami Athletics is an amazing community and I am grateful to be a part of it."

Human Performance and Wellness Announces Two Additions

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