US Lacrosse is pleased to announce the medical staffs for the 2020 U.S. Men’s U19 Team and the 2022 U.S. Men’s Senior Team.
“US Lacrosse is so fortunate to have so many great and talented medical professionals interested in serving our national teams,” said Ann Kitt Carpenetti, vice president of lacrosse operations for US Lacrosse. “We strive to provide a world-class experience for our athletes and coaches and the quality of this outstanding group of doctors and certified athletic trainers is another way we’re able to do that. We are grateful for their service.”
The following individuals have been selected to the medical staffs:
2020 U.S. Men’s U19 Team
Physician: Sameer Dixit, M.D.
Orthopedist: Ken Tepper, M.D.
Athletic Trainer: Angela Beisner
Athletic Trainer: Erin Pettinger
2022 U.S Men’s Senior Team
Physician: Kelly Waicus, M.D.
Orthopedist: Michael Khair, M.D.
Athletic Trainer: Mandy Merritt
Athletic Trainer: Greg Penczek
Dixit is assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery, medicine, physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. He is the medical director for Johns Hopkins athletics and has worked with the Blue Jays’ men’s lacrosse program since 2009. Before coming to Johns Hopkins, Dixit was the interim head physician for the University of California, Berkeley. He received his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Tepper is the director of hip preservation and arthroscopy at MedStar Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore. Since 2003, he has been the head team physician for Stevenson University, providing coverage to the school’s 27-sport program. Tepper played the sport through the club level in college and has also coached lacrosse at the youth and high school levels. This past summer, he was the associate chief medical officer and head orthopaedic surgeon for the Federation of International Men’s Lacrosse World Championship in Israel. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Beisner is the head athletic trainer, Olympic sports at the Ohio State University and previously served on the staff for the 2016 U.S. Men’s U19 Team that won a gold medal in Canada. A graduate of Ohio State, she returned to the school in 1999 after stints at Eastern Kentucky and Oklahoma State. Since moving to her current position at Ohio State in 2007, she works primarily with the men’s lacrosse team while overseeing health care for 35 sports at the school.
Pettinger is an associate athletic trainer for men’s lacrosse and men’s and women’s golf at Georgetown University. A graduate of the University of Nebraska, she joined the staff at Georgetown in 2011. Before joining the Hoyas’ program she worked on the athletic training staffs at Miami, Duquesne and South Carolina.
Waicus has been a team physician for the University of North Carolina since 2005, working with the Tar Heels men’s and women’s lacrosse programs along with other sports. she received her undergraduate degree from Duke University followed by her medical degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995. After completing a residency in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, OH, she returned to Chapel Hill for her Sports Medicine fellowship.
Khair is an orthopedic surgeon at The Carrell Clinic in Dallas. Also serving on the staff for the 2019 U.S. Men’s Indoor Team, he is a graduate of Bowdoin College who earned his medical degree at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University. Khair played lacrosse at the high school and collegiate levels before suffering an injury at Bowdoin. He is currently a team physician with Southern Methodist University and the Episcopal School of Dallas, and an assistant team physician with the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Cowboys.
Merritt is the men's lacrosse athletic trainer and sports medicine rehabilitation specialist at the University of Notre Dame. Merritt will be returning to work with the U.S. Men’s Senior Team after serving on the staff of the 2018 team that participated in Israel. She also worked with the 2012 U.S. Men’s U19 Team in Finland. Both of those teams won world championships. A former soccer player at the University of Delaware, she has worked at Notre Dame since 2008. She previously worked at Towson and Delaware.
Penczek is the head athletic trainer at Towson University and has worked with the Tigers’ men’s lacrosse program since 2012. Prior to that, he was the head athletic trainer at Stevenson University. Currently, a youth lacrosse coach, Penczek is a graduate of Salisbury University and has been a presenter at the US Lacrosse Sports Medicine Symposium. He previously held training positions in the athletic departments at Salisbury, LSU and Gardner-Webb.
