Janelle Christensen has joined the Goshen College Athletic Department as an athletic trainer. Christensen joined GC following the departure of Julianna Davis, and she joins Jaelyn Klassen, who currently serves as head athletic trainer for the Maple Leafs.

A graduate of Alma College and Ohio University, Christensen is an employee of Goshen Health, from which GC hires its athletic trainers. She completed her Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, or CSCS, certification in 2024.

After graduating from OU in 2020, Christensen began working at the high school level in Ohio. She then worked for a pretzel factory, where she provided physical therapy for employees. She most recently moved to South Bend to return to the high school level before joining GC at the start of this year.

Christensen values her partnership with Klassen in the athletic training room. “I feel like I can do a lot more to help athletes because there are two of us, and I have more time to actually do rehab or some of the treatments that I want to do, and I enjoy that,” she said. “I really enjoy the preventative side of healthcare.”

Karlee  Ballast is a senior exercise science major. This semester, she is serving as a student trainer. She has mainly been working with one athlete’s anterior cruciate ligament rehabilitation alongside Christensen. She says that Christensen “takes a very hands-on approach and is extremely personable.”

While new to the job, Christensen has been intentional about making connections with the students she works with. One of the ways she has done this is by setting up a TikTok account with Klassen for the athletic training room. 

Their main objective is to let students know that the athletic training room isn’t daunting, and that both Christensen and Klassen want to support the students on and off the field of play. “We got a social media account so the kids could follow us, crack jokes and know that the athletic training room is for more than just injuries,” Christensen said. “We’re not scary. I mean, we have our moments, but we just wanted to do something that was fun and so people outside of athletics can kind of [see] what athletic training is — not a lot of people do.”

Ballast has realized Christensen’s efforts to network with the students. “Janelle is finding new ways to engage and build relationships with athletes by adding a question of the day … and is currently tracking a March Madness bracket competition,” she said.

After completing her CSCS certification, she now works directly with some of the teams on campus on their strength and conditioning programs. “Each coach has a different [way] they want to utilize me as the strength and conditioning coach. Some, I’m writing their whole program. Some, I’m just going to be in there to make sure they’re lifting properly. Others, I’m just going to review their program they make,” she said.

Joey Paternostro is a junior broadcasting major and outfielder for the GC baseball team. After suffering a high-grade pronator strain in the Leafs’ series versus Marian University, he has been working with Christensen for his rehabilitation exercises.

Paternostro commends Christensen for being proactive in starting his rehab program. “Originally, I came in and told her some of my symptoms. She ran some simple stress tests to rule out major injuries. Then she immediately started coming up with a plan of action,” Paternostro explained.

“Every question I’ve had, she answered,” he said. “Every doubt or moment I second-guessed the purpose of an exercise, she explained everything.”

Despite the fact that rehab and recovery can be challenging, Christensen connects with the student-athletes to help make it an enjoyable experience. “Our interactions are filled with sarcasm and laughs which makes recovery 10 times easier because it always begins on a positive note,” Paternostro said. “She’s great at her job.”

Ballast believes that Christensen’s experience at the high school level has helped her adapt to the new athletic training environment of the collegiate level. “She brings extensive knowledge as well as a new perspective,” Ballast said.

Christensen appreciates how welcoming the student-athletes have been to her since her arrival. “That’s been one of the most enjoyable parts of the job so far. Everyone’s so open here. They’re very friendly, everyone asks questions and that’s the really nice part about this place in particular,” Christensen said.