A Spring 2010 graduate of the University of Alabama with a B.S. in Athletic Training, Almand grew up in Leesburg, Florida, where her parents still reside.  She became drawn to athletic training after an injury in high school forced her into surgery and physical therapy.  She saw the impact that athletic training and physical therapy could have on an athlete's life and career and ended up pursuing that passion when she enrolled in Tuscaloosa.

Asked what led her to Montreat College, Almand says, "I was looking for what God wanted me to do, because his plans are not always what we expect or think.  I knew of Montreat because my mother, Donna Osborne Almand, graduated here in 1980, and when I visited, I fell in love with the atmosphere and felt as if God's spirit lives in the people I met here."

"Plus," she added, "even though I grew up in Florida, I'm a mountain girl, not a beach girl."

Almand anticipates - and wants - a heavy work load this year and a chance to travel on road trips and to many weekend competitions with different teams. 

And that must make Mark Neely breathe a little easier.