BALTIMORE, MD - Head athletic trainer Brad Mountcastle announces the addition of three full-time certified athletic trainers to the sports medicine staff at Johns Hopkins. Joining the staff for the fall 2012 season are Caitlyn Kerins, Nichole Ruppel and Ryan Sley. Kerins will work with baseball, women's soccer and men's and women's swimming. Ruppel will work with men's and women's cross country and track and field, along with wrestling. Sley's sport responsibilities include football and men's and women's tennis.

The sports medicine operation at Hopkins is among the finest in the nation, featuring an experienced staff of athletic trainers that provide year-round health care for all 24 Blue Jay varsity sports teams. The operation is under the direction of Mountcastle, who oversees a staff of four full-time assistants and two graduate assistants. JHU's seven certified athletic trainers supervise a staff of student assistants, including students in the Johns Hopkins pre-medical program and student interns in the athletic training programs at Towson and Salisbury Universities.

Caitlyn Kerins comes to JHU from Centre College.

Kerins comes to Johns Hopkins from Centre College, where she spent the past two years as a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer. She served as the primary athletic trainer for volleyball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's track and field and men's lacrosse. Kerins earned a master's of science in athletic training from the University of Kentucky in May 2012 and is a 2010 graduate of the University of North Carolina with degrees in exercise & sport science and Spanish. She worked as a student athletic trainer for three years while at UNC, while also providing coverage for nearby Athens Drive and Green Hope High Schools.

Ruppel returns to Hopkins after stints at nearby Notre Dame of Maryland and Maryland SportsCare & Rehab. She worked for one year at Maryland SportsCare & Rehab, serving as the athletic trainer at North Carroll High School. She then took over as the Head Athletic Trainer and Wellness Coordinator at Notre Dame, where she is currently pursuing her master of arts in leadership in training. Ruppell spent two years as a Graduate Assistant Athletic Trainer at Hopkins, working with men's and women's cross country, men's lacrosse, men's basketball, men's and women's track and field, women's soccer and men's and women's swimming. Ruppel is a 2008 graduate of Towson, where she earned her bachelor of science in athletic training.

Sley joins the Blue Jay staff after one year as the Associate Athletic Trainer at Delaware State University, where his primary sport responsibilities included head athletic trainer for women's basketball, women's lacrosse and outdoor track and field while also assisting with football. He earned his master's degree in exercise science and physical education from McDaniel in 2011, where he worked two years as a graduate assistant. Prior to his tenure in Westminster, Sley interned for one year at the United States Naval Academy. A 2008 graduate of Salisbury with a bachelor of science in athletic training, Sley worked as a student athletic trainer for four seasons, while also serving a spring internship at Georgetown in 2008.