Craig Keyes, MD - Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Keyes is a physician, board certified in both Internal Medicine and Geriatrics. A lifelong advocate of health and well-being, he is best known to Coloradans as the former Chief Executive Officer of United Healthcare of Colorado, where he was awarded "Power Broker of the Year in Healthcare" from the Denver Business Journal in 2006. Prior to his work in Colorado, he served as CEO of United Healthcare of New York.

Dr. Keyes received his undergraduate and medical degrees, both with Honors, at the University of Wisconsin, and completed his internship and residency at Columbia University and Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He also holds a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University School of Business. A native of Wisconsin, he currently resides in Denver and New York City.

 

Erik Phillips, MS, ATC-L, NASM PES, CES - General Manager, SVP, Program Research and Development

Erik Phillips manages SportXcel's product development and exercise research, and advises on all performance enhancement programming. He works closely with the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) on development of performance enhancement and corrective exercise protocols. SportXcel's staff bases its exercise programming on NASM’s research and its Optimum Performance Training (OPT) protocols.

Erik has spent more than a decade in conditioning professional athletes, most recently as Head Strength and conditioning Coach and Assistant Athletic Trainer with the NBA Phoenix Suns. Prior to that, he spent more than six years with the Denver Nuggets and assisted with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche minor league call-ups during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

He is a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA), the Colorado Athletic Trainers Association (CATA) and National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). Additionally, he is certified as a Performance Enhancement Specialist, Corrective Exercise Specialist and received a Master’s degree in Injury Prevention and Performance Enhancement from California University of Pennsylvania in 2005.  He has also served as an adjunct faculty member for the A.T. Still University College of Health Sciences and was recently named Medical Director for the 2012 Women's Basketball Final Four to be held in Denver.

A 1998 graduate of Colorado State University, Phillips served as a student athletic trainer for four years at CSU, working with the men’s basketball, football, track and softball squads. Phillips was a three-year varsity letter winner for Rams’ track and cross country teams and participated in the WAC championships each year between 1993-96. He participated in cross country, basketball and track at Elizabeth High School in Elizabeth, CO. Erik lives in Castle Rock with his wife Brittany and sons Joey and Jackson.

Chris Snieckus - Performance Team Trainer, NASM PES

Chris was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He attended Cabot High School, were he ran track and played football for the Panthers. Chris won all conference honors in both football and track. He placed 2^nd in state in the 200m during his junior season.

After high school Chris attend the University of Central Arkansas were he began his study of Exercise Science. After studying at UCA he changed his workout mentality and started working on building a steady functional platform. Chris spent a short stint at the University of Arkansas, where he continued his studies, and led workouts for several U of A running backs.

Chris is a graduate of Heritage College, an holds a NASM PES certification. Following his education at Heritage Chris completed a 200 hour internship at SportXcel. In his free time Chris enjoys hiking, off-roading and watching college football.

Ryan Kannegieter - Performance Coach, NASM PES, CSCS

Ryan grew up in Littleton, CO, where he attended Chatfield Senior High. As a junior he was a 1st Team All Conference selection. During his senior campaign Ryan earned numerous honors including: Jefferson County MVP, 2nd Team All-State, and lead Chatfield to the Sweet 16 in the State playoffs.

After graduation from Chatfield he attended Broome Community College in Binghamton, NY. As a freshman Ryan led his team to a MSAC (Mid State Athletic Conference) championship and a spot in the Region IX tournament.

Ryan finished up his career at Towson University in Baltimore, MD. As a walk on at Towson Ryan worked his way up and was elected as a team captain his senior season. Ryan finished with a double major in Exercise Science and Sport Management at Towson and was a member of many athletic leadership committees. Ryan graduated Summa Cum Laude and was a nominee for the Colonial Athletic Association's Dean Ehler's Leadership Award.

After college Ryan played on a few semi-pro basketball teams including the River City Red Wasps of the GPBL in Knoxville, TN and the New York Red Riders in Elmira, NY.

Jordan Thomas - Performance Coach, MS, ACSM-HFS

Jordan was born and raised in Brandon, Vermont. She attended Otter Valley Union High School and was a four year varsity-letter winner in field hockey and basketball.

She has a B.S. in Nutrition and Food Sciences from the University of Vermont and a M.S. in Clinical Exercise Physiology from Northeastern University with an emphasis on exercise-related research. In 2004-2005 she played field hockey at the University of Vermont and since ending her collegiate athletic career has completed two marathons and several half marathons and triathlons. Jordan currently holds an American College of Sports Medicine Health Fitness Specialist certification.

While attending Northeastern University Jordan worked with the Strength & Conditioning program conducting performance testing and evaluations on student athletes. She also helped design and coordinate a community-based physical activity program for young children and their families. Before starting her graduate work, she worked as a Degreed Nutritionist in San Diego, CA. She is currently also working as an Exercise Physiologist for the University of Colorado Denver primarily working on Type 2 Diabetes and exercise-related research.

Adam Clawson - SportXcel-Parker Performance Coach, MS, CSCS

Adam joined SportXcel in November 2011 as a performance coach and quickly became an integral part of a building relationship with Bardo’s Diamond Sports.  SportXcel partnered with Bardo’s in January 2012 to provide Strength & Conditioning in a program dedicated to SAQ, Stability, Strength, Power and overall injury prevention.  Adam’s passion for sport performance enhancement, injury prevention, and exercise programming in both youth athletes and adults led to his current role of starting and building the SportXcel-Parker facility.

Adam Clawson grew up in the Northeast playing baseball, soccer, and basketball.  In 2002, at the start of college, he began weight training and worked part-time at the school gym.  He quickly found a passion for exercise, fitness, and health.  He hopes that by demonstrating and teaching excellence in as many aspects of fitness and health as possible, he can be an inspiration to others.
Adam holds a Master’s Degree in Exercise Physiology from James Madison University, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science.  During his educational career, he worked at Gold’s Gym as a personal trainer, completed a cardiac rehab internship, and also completed a strength and conditioning internship.  He strives to combine the concepts he learned in the classroom, with the experiences he had in his internships, and the experiences he has had as a personal trainer.
 He has also worked with chiropractors, physical therapists, cardiac rehab specialists, strength and conditioning coaches, massage therapists, orthopedic surgeons, and athletic trainers.  He has taken the best parts of the often drastically different opinions on health, general exercise, and athletic development by these professionals, and combined them into a training approach that covers every dimension of wellness: exercise, rehabilitation (recuperation), and prehabilitation (injury prevention).
  Adam’s plans for the future are to continue to educate, inspire, and motivate others.

Ryan Smith - Performance Coach

Ryan is a native of Southern California and brings a wealth of knowledge and playing experience to Sportexcel. He spent 5 seasons playing professional baseball in the Minnesota Twins organization, along with a brief stint with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.

He received his Bachelors degree in Exercise Science from Ottawa University and furthered his education earning his MBA with an emphasis in Sports Management from Lindenwood University. Ryan possesses the unique ability to communicate and relate with today’s athletes, and thrives on sharing his knowledge and experience with up and coming athletes.

Christopher Watts - Performance Coach, CSCS

Chris was raised in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, just outside of Hershey where the chocolate plant is. He attended Lower Dauphin High School where he played football and wrestled. Chris made all state for football his senior year, when the Lower Dauphin Falcons were in contention for the State title.

After graduation Chris attended Saint Francis University where he played Tight End for a year. After this year Chris transferred to University of Northern Colorado in Greeley where he received his Bachelors Degree in Sport and Exercise Science.   Chris was intending to go to Physical Therapy school after graduation, to do this he accumulated 500 internship hours at the Hetrick Center in Middletown PA. The Hetrick Center is an total health rehab center. During this time he headed up the Youth Aquatic program in the Hydroworx® Pools.

After this time he headed back to school at Metropolitan State College of Denver, for a license in Physical Education. During this time he was personal training on the campus for the two and a half years her was there. During the time that he trained here, he adopted a functional training philosophy and used it with many clients. He graduated with his Physical Education license in 2012 and was hired by SportXcel in the fall by the SportXcel Youth Fitness Foundation.

Justin Carter - Performance Coach, MS, NASM PES

Justin is a SportXcel Performance Enhancement Specialist, specializing in individual and small group training. In addition to working at SportXcel's training facility, Justin trains PE teachers through the SportXcel Youth Fitness Foundation.  He is a graduate of Loras College with a degree in Sports Science with an emphasis in coaching. Born and raised in Galena, Illinois, the two-time all-conference winner captained his Class 1A football team to a state championship. He attended Galena High School where he lettered in two sports. In addition to football, Justin was a two-time letter winner in baseball and an all-conference pitcher. Justin has extensive experience designing and leading programs for youth athletes, college sports performance, adult fitness, and motocross racers, including, Chad Wienen of the Monster Energy Kawasaki race team.

Justin is a Certified Personal Trainer through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and  a Performance Enhancement Specialist (PES) certification through the National Academy of Sports Medicine.  He also holds certifications with both CSCS and the USA Weightlifting Sports Performance programs. When not coaching, Justin has volunteered with Special Olympics and enjoys mountain biking and hiking Colorado's 14ers during the summer and skiing and snowboarding during the winter months.  He is currently earning his Masters Degree in Sports Management.

Albert Sandoval - Baseball Performance Correspondent, CSCS

Al Sandoval is a sports performance coach specializing in individual and group training. Al has four years of experience working with professional athletes and one year of collegiate experience. Al is starting hi first off-season with the Anaheim Angels as a Strength & Conditioning Coach after serving four seasons with the Colorado Rockies. He has been through four full-seasons in the Rockies minor league system spending one season with the Rookie Ball team in Casper, WY and spent three seasons in Tulsa, OK with the Rockies Double-A affiliate.

Before his professional experiences Sandoval helped design and implement the strength and conditioning program currently used by the Colorado State University-Pueblo Baseball Team.

A 2008 Colorado State University-Pueblo graduate, Sandoval was an assistant S&C Coach for the baseball team in 2008. Sandoval was a three year varsity-letter winner for the Thunderwolves baseball team participating in two NCAA Division II Baseball West Regional’s in 2006-07. Al is a Colorado native who graduated from Pueblo East High School and was a four year varsity baseball letter winner as an Eagle.