Whole Being Athlete | Mental Health

Sierra Enge

Sierra is a professional soccer player for the San Diego Wave. She won a National Championship while playing at Stanford University in 2019 and was a two-year team captain. She is passionate about creating spaces for people to share experiences so that no one feels alone. Additionally, Sierra loves mentoring and speaking on identity, confidence and managing mistakes. 

Manteo Mitchell

Manteo is an Olympic Silver Medalist, World and US Champion in track and field. He’s also a member of the US Bobsled team, where he’s aiming to make history by becoming just the 7th person to medal in both the Summer and Winter Games. He’d also become the very first African-American male to accomplish the feat! When he’s not chasing records, you can find him running around the world with his family. Manteo is an advocate for health and wellness. He spends most of his time away from training/competing as a motivational speaker and ambassador for many brands and causes with the youth and next generation.

Blake Palmquist

Blake played soccer at the University of Mary and retired from professional soccer in 2021.

He is dedicated to ending the stigma around mental health and advocating for those in need. As the creator of the INTRA blog and the Instagram page @intratogether, he actively engages in mental health initiatives with our partners, participates in community events, and shares advocacy messages on social media.

Despite aiming for a long-term professional soccer career, Blake faced mental health struggles such as self-doubt, depression, stress, and anxiety, which led to burnout and the decision to step away from the sport. Recognizing the growing impact of mental health issues on athletes, Blake aims to raise awareness through personal stories and relevant topics.

Isabelle “Izzy” Connor

Izzy is a Tokyo 2021 Olympian in Rhythmic Gymnastics. She is a 5x Pan American Games medalist, multiple time World Cup and Grand Prix finalist and has been on 3 World Championship teams. Her team made history by achieving the first top-ten world championship ranking in US Rhythmic Gymnastics history. She trained and competed on the US national team from 2017 until her retirement in 2024. Isabelle is pursuing a degree in Astrophysics at the University of California, Santa Cruz where she is a published student researcher. She also coaches young gymnasts. Having gone through her own struggles with anxiety and depression as an elite athlete, she has been a voice of advocacy and change within the culture of gymnastics, and in the athlete mental health movement. She is passionate about mentorship, furthering the mental health movement, and creating equity in STEM.

Matt Skura

Matt began his football journey at Duke University, where he studied Psychology and Human Development. During his time at Duke, he became a three-year starter, captain, All-American, and All-ACC selection. Despite going undrafted, he launched his NFL career with the Baltimore Ravens, playing for eight years with four teams.

Through his academic and athletic experiences, Matt recognized the importance of strong mental health practices linked to high performance. His journey took a personal turn with the tragic loss of his father to suicide in March 2022. This pain fueled his passion to impact athletes at all levels, sharing his experiences with mental health and his athletic journey. Matt is dedicated to promoting resilience, awareness, and support for mental well-being in sports.

Cal Calamia

Cal Calamia (they/he) is a trans marathoner, inclusivity activist, educator, community builder, and poet. He competed at Saint Louis University, then went on to advocate for non-binary divisions in races. Cal won first place in the 2023 New York City Marathon, the 2022 San Francisco Marathon, and the 2024 Los Angeles Marathon. He took second place at the 2022 Chicago Marathon and the 2023 Boston Marathon. 

Cal wants to open up more conversations to destigmatize mental health at the intersection of various identities. Through storytelling, they believe we can generate more belonging and more hope for all athletes.

Mina Marie Anglero

Mina Marie Anglero is a former NCAA Division I track and field athlete who competed for the University of California, Berkeley. While at Cal, she served as team captain for the T&F and XC team. She earned a Master’s degree in Cultural Studies of Sport in Education from Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education.

Mina has represented Team Norway internationally in both basketball and track & field. She has aspirations of qualifying for the Olympics in the future.

Mina’s qualitative master’s research examined the holistic well-being of international student-athletes navigating American college sports. Through in-depth interviews, she analyzed the distinct challenges this population faces in integrating their athletic, academic, psychological, social, and spiritual identities. To address these imbalances, Mina’s work advocates for a decolonized, athlete-centered approach to college athletics that integrates principles of inner wisdom to nurture the mind-body-spirit connection. 

As a former collegiate athlete and aspiring elite competitor, Mina aims to empower current and future generations of athletes to thrive holistically throughout their journeys. Drawing from her first-hand experience navigating injuries, burnout, and disconnection, she believes the path to peak performance requires as much inner wisdom as external training. By integrating her Norwegian upbringing and her Puerto Rican heritage in her writing, dialogue, and advocacy work, Mina is passionate about being a voice for change. Her goal is to promote the health, justice and liberation of student-athletes facing challenges to their well-being.

Kendall Ellis

Kendall Ellis is an American Olympic sprinter. After her distinguished collegiate career at University of Southern California, she went on to compete in the World Championships and Tokyo Olympics.During the Tokyo Olympics, she won gold for the 4x400m relay, and bronze for the mixed 4x400m. She will be competing in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

In addition to her mental health advocacy, she is passionate about mentorship and volunteering.

Beverly Goebel-Yanez

Beverly Goebel-Yanez is a retired professional soccer player, who has competed internationally. She is currently head coach for Racing Louisville FC of the National Women’s Soccer League. In addition to her advocacy for mental health, she is an activist for women’s equity in sports and gender equity.

Samuel Fuller

Samuel Fuller is an orthopaedic resident at the University at Buffalo and completed medical school at the George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He graduated from St. Bonaventure University in Olean, NY in 2019 with a B.S. in Biology and History and a minor in Philosophy, Medicine & Ethics.

During his time at St. Bonaventure, Samuel was a 4-year co-captain for the Division I NCAA baseball team and a 2-time Academic All-American. His interests include mental health of athletes, orthopaedic sports injuries, and concussions. 

Mariah Parsons

Mariah Parsons is a former collegiate rower. While attending University of Notre Dame, she was a member of the women’s rowing team. She is currently a DEI and engagement fellow at the ORR Fellowship.

In addition to her advocacy and storytelling with Whole Being Athlete, Mariah also hosts a mental health storytelling podcast called Learn 2 Listen, which allows anyone to share their mental health journey.

Jenny Sichel

Jenny Sichel is a 2016 Rio Paralympic Silver Medalist in the PR3 4+, a five-time World Rowing Championship Silver Medalist, and a seven-time member of the US Rowing Para National Team. She recently made the switch from the boat to the launch and once again represented Team USA at the Tokyo Paralympics as the coach for the PR1 W1x.

When she’s not on the water, Jenny works in disability advocacy as the Operations Director for the National Council on Independent Living and is currently getting her Master’s Degree in Public Administration. She loves downhill ski racing, acting for film, and considers herself a viewer of the gold lining.

Chris Paul

Chris Paul was drafted by the NFL’s Washington Commanders in 2022. Along with being a football student-athlete at The University of Tulsa, Chris Paul served as the American Athletic Conference’s National Representative (DI SAAC), as well as chaired The American’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. As a Conference, they pioneered a large mental health campaign, entitled Pow6rful Minds, geared toward ending the stigma(s) associated with mental health. Not only has this brought about awareness at base level, but has provided a wealth of information pertaining to resources on campus, tips, personal stories etc.

He says he will, “always speak up and share as much information as I can about mental health initiatives, because speaking up saves lives. Your mental health will always be as important as your physical health.”

Alice Merryweather

Alice Merryweather is a World Cup Alpine Ski Racer from Hingham, MA and competed primarily in the speed events, downhill and super-G. A successful 2018 Olympics campaign cemented Alice as one of America’s top rising ski stars and a worldwide talent to watch. She retired from skiing in 2024.

Alice’s story as an athlete is headlined by a collection of personal triumphs, setbacks, and an unwavering commitment to use her platform to be an authentic and inspiring role model for all female athletes. She is passionate in speaking about her personal struggles with an eating disorder, her own mental health, and the power that sports has a healthy therapy for us all. She has gained national and international media coverage in breaking the silence in what it means to be a female athlete in one of the world’s most grueling sports. She is embarking on a path of being more than an athlete and is truly a trailblazer in the Olympic sports space. 

Aside from skiing, Alice enjoys strumming on her ukulele, hiking, and playing board games. She is a student at Dartmouth College completing her degree in Government.

Lacey Henderson

Lacey Henderson is a long jump Paralympian. She is currently serving as a commissioner on the City of Denver Commission for People with Disabilities.

She has completed her Masters in Applied Sport and Performance Psychology. She is a public speaker, model, and advocate for disability and consequently, many intersectional communities. She is a presenter at the Association of Applied Sport Psychology Diversity in Sport Conference and has a passion for using her career in athletics to help athletes of future generations.

Jack Beer

Jack Beer is a professional soccer player for New York City FC II. Jack secured a national championship at Georgetown University while battling anxiety and depression. He aims to serve others through his story and mental health advocacy.

Natasha Hastings

Natasha Hastings is an American track and field sprinter, running the 400-meter and 4×400 meter events. She is a two-time Olympian and two-time Gold medalist. She is the mother of a 3-year-old little boy, Liam, and is a practicing mental health clinician after completing her Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health at the University of South Carolina.

Cat Salladin

Cat Salladin is a former swimmer for Rutgers University where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and her MSW degree.  She is a former U.S. National Team member for Open Water swimming and was a member of the 2017 World Championships team where she competed in the 25-kilometer event.  Following her stint on the National Team, she suffered a career-altering injury and severe overtraining syndrome, both of which greatly affected her mental health and relationship to the sport of swimming.  

Through her experience in swimming and in life, she has gained immense passion for mental health, specifically athletes’ mental health.  She has experience as a Campus Captain for The Hidden Opponent, a student speaker and advocate for the Release Recovery Foundation, and as a social worker planning for a career in the mental health field.  She enjoys using her passion for storytelling, poetry, and speaking as a way to spread awareness for mental health and fight the stigma, specifically in the arena of athletics.

Kaitlyn Lyle

Kaitlyn Lyle is a former D1 gymnast at the University of California, Davis where she majored in Psychology and minored in Spanish. She competed in the Junior Olympics four times in a row and was the number 2 anticipated freshman in the NCAA on the Uneven Bars going into college.

Kaitlyn wants to end the stigma around mental health in athletics by sharing her experiences, mentoring other athletes, and ultimately being that advocate for those whose voices went unheard. She is committed to re-writing the playbook by showing other athletes that they can be great beyond the field and that being an athlete does not define who they are, but rather who they have the potential to become. 

Megan Ewoldt

Megan Ewoldt is a former platform diver for Auburn University. After a sudden career ending injury, she now hopes to be a voice for all athletes that must quickly and unexpectedly come to terms with a new, unstructured lifestyle outside of sport. Ewoldt is passionate about mental health in athletics because athletes, like herself, often forget they are human. 

In her free time, she enjoys fishing, boating and skim boarding. She plans on completing a degree in graphic design and working in the field of residential architecture.

Tyree Washington

Tyree Washington is a former Track and Field sprinter and NFL alumni. The 400m World Champion currently works as a motivational speaker and coach, helping people from all walks of life overcome adversity. 

Growing up in a single parent household, he faced many adversities of his own including gang violence, drug dealing, homelessness, severe asthma, betrayal from his teammates and the loss of his niece. He channeled his anger into sports where he began thriving as a Track and Field athlete. He won bronze in the ’97 World Championships, anchored the U.S. 4x400m relay team to gold, and set a new world record the following year. 

Always wanting better for himself and for others, Tyree uses his time advocating for mental health and has established his nonprofit, Athletes for Asthma, to share his experiences in hopes of helping others in sport and in life.

Taylor Miller

Taylor Miller is a former Division III women’s basketball player at Otterbein University, where she earned her BA in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. Despite being back in sports as a Graduate Assitant, the 5 years of no longer being an ‘athlete’ made her question her identity after sport and thus led her to struggle with anxiety, and depression- eventually gaining a severe eating disorder. 

She has been in recovery since 2020 and has become a strong advocate and voice for student-athlete mental health- starting conversations with her student-athletes about who they are outside of the basketball court in hopes to help them find their identity so that they do not struggle in ways that she did after her athletic career was over. 

She is excited to extend her advocacy and voice outside of the UVA-Wise campus and help student-athletes across the country start important conversations, further easing the stigma of mental health in athletics.

Isaac Jean-Paul

Isaac Jean-Paul is a Paralympic high jumper and long jumper, currently training for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Isaac is also the head sprint coach for San Diego State University’s Adaptive Sports Program, as well as a published author and motivational speaker.

Isaac is passionate about raising awareness about athlete mental health, particularly through the lens of disability.

Jaleen Roberts

Jaleen Roberts is an American track and field Paralympian who will be competing in the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. She has won many medals, including a silver in both the T37 long jump and 100m at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Jaleen is also a proud mental health and LGBTQIA+ advocate.