A winning tradition is being built at Wichita State.

WSU athletics collectively has solidified its dominance in the Missouri Valley Conference by winning more team championships in the 2013-2014 seasons than other school in the conference with seven.

On the surface, coaches and athletes are customarily commended with adulation for their supreme gifts and masterory of their crafts. However, searching beyond the coaches, athletes and practices are the strength and conditioning whom are responsible for all the physical gains athletes make during the offseason that is routinely displayed for fans to marvel at during the season.

“Strength and condition has a huge impact on college athletes, because what you’re looking at is everybody here at Wichita State — regardless of the sport — is trying to see how good they can be,” head strenght and conditioning coach Kerry Rosenboom said. “They want to do everything possible to enhance their performance. When you consider sports like basketball, it’s a game of physicality – you need to be bigger and stronger. You need what I call a NBA body; you need to jump higher; you need to be quicker to defend on the perimeter.

“About 80 percent of what I do remains the same. We are going to become a bigger, stronger, more psychical athlete. We are going to be a quicker athlete and improve on athleticism. We are always working to try to help the athlete to reach their goals.”

The offseason is where it typically begins for the athletes at WSU. Getting a head start on the competition in the summer has been pivotal for athletes. Strength coach Jake Fincham said one of his proudest moments as a coach so far is aiding in the growth and development of current sophomore Ashley Petersen, who qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump this spring in Eugene, Ore.

 “The proudest moment I have as a coach is when I see a kid put in the work in the weight room and have it carried over to success in their sport, “Fincham said. “I love seeing kids have success, especially the ones that come in and really work hard.”

With an unquenchable desire to get better, Rosenboom said in his 27 years of coaching at WSU he’s seen exponential growth in the athletes’ mentality, facilities and time and effort invested in various sports over the years.

“When people come to schools like Wichita State they want to get better, they want to see how far they can go to get to the next level,” he said. “Every sport has something they can improve on in the weight room. When I started here we had a weight room that was two thousand square feet — one of the worst weight rooms in the country. We got rained out of workouts. It was underneath the football stadium. Now we have two excellent facilities.”

In the years passed, Rosenboom experienced many high and low moments as a coach. One of his proudest experiences he recalled was contributing and watching the 1989 men’s baseball team win a National Championship.

“Winning the baseball National Championship in 1989 was one of my highest moments as a coach, because to be able to say you’re the best at something is pretty incredible. That team was filled with incredible people. The final four was something I’d hoped I would be able to go through at some point in my career and going through the final four then to being the first school to ever go through the regular season undefeated,” Rosenboom said.

A winning attitude and work ethic is becoming infectious.

More athletes in multiple sports are beginning to come in the weight room and put in the extra work over the summer. Sophomore Jaleesa Chapel said winning the Missouri Valley Championship in women’s basketball has only made their team hungrier; they’ve already started summer workouts.

“We’ve seen how far we can go as a team,” Chapel said. “We know our potential, and I want to improve on my athleticism and strength in the weight room.”

Improving athleticism isn’t the only purpose for strength and conditioning. Injury prevention is a key component in any successful athlete’s career. Frincham said one of the low moments of a strength and conditioning coach is watching an athlete put in exceptional work in the weight room and then weeks leading up to championship they can’t perform to their full capabilities because of injuries.

 “One of the biggest aspects that, at least with my philosophy, strength and conditioning is injury prevention. I see my job is to help increase a kid’s performance and I know that if a kid is always injured they are not going to able to reach that performance potential that they have,” Fincham said.

WSU is an athletic program is entering its Golden Age as head track coach Steve Rainbolt puts it. Better athletes are committing to WSU and leaving with professional potential, such as basketball player Cleanthony Early who was a three star recruit coming out of high school according to rivals.com, and track and field All-American in the decathlon Austin Bahner.

Rosenboom believes that if the athletes continue to put in maximum effort WSU will continue to see more All-Americans and potential National Champions.

He also said he believes at the end of the day if student-athletes want to get better they are going to work hard at everything they do.

Being a strength and conditioning coach isn’t a glamorous position; you most likely won’t know their names or see them during competitions — it isn’t about the notoriety for Rosenboom and Frincham.

“My goal is to see my athletes get results and do well. My goal used to be, when I was younger, I wanted to see myself progress. I decided that I enjoy seeing people accomplish things they didn’t think they could have. I would rather be sort of a shadow and push a guy behind the scenes,” Rosenboom said.