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This month’s Alumnus of the Month spotlight belongs to

Dr. Matthew Pennell, Class of 2007.

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Matthew, son of Scott and Chris Pennell of Jacksonville, is a Chiropractor who currently lives in Dallas, TX with his wife, Samantha. Following his time at Routt Catholic, Matthew attended SIU-Carbondale, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science and Kinesiology. During his time at SIU-C, Matthew spent the summers working for a moving company in Jacksonville, hurt his back on the job, and received wonderful treatment from a chiropractor. This spurred his interest into the field of Chiropractic and he decided to pursue even higher education after graduating from SIU-C, going on to attend Logan University in Chesterfield, MO to receive a Masters in Sports Science and Rehabilitation and a Doctorate of Chiropractic.

 

Following his time at Logan University, Matthew remained in Chesterfield for 8 years and had the opportunity to work under one of his biggest mentors, Dr. Mike Murphy. He became an independent contractor at Performance Chiropractic, and was able to build his own patient population from scratch. “I also learned high level business ethics, patient education, and athletic injury assessment,” says Matthew. While at Performance Chiropractic, Matthew became one of the official team chiropractors of the St. Louis Blues Hockey Club, Washington University Athletics, and Lindenwood University Athletics.

 

In January 2019 Matthew and his wife Samantha made the decision to move to Dallas where Matthew would start a new practice, Element Health and Wellness. The practice focuses on sports chiropractic and injury prevention and has really taken off over the last 6 months. “At Element, we have an individualized boutique style practice,” says Matthew. “I direct care for our patients through injury evaluation, soft tissue therapy, and chiropractic joint mobility. In time, we would like to be the hub for everything health oriented.”

 

Matthew has been featured in several magazine articles, blogs, and podcasts, speaking about everything from treating professional athletes, to the importance of your health and taking care of your body, to how to live a life of faith. If you want to catch the latest news on Matthew, check him out on Instagram @drpennell5, or follow his practice directly @elementhealthandwellness.  

 

 

When asked about his time at Routt, Matthew admits that his senior football season was one of his favorite memories. The team went 9-0 in the regular season and won the WIVC Championship, the first time in several years that a Routt football team had accomplished such a feat. The town of Jacksonville really rallied behind the team that year, and Matthew recalls the memories of that season very fondly admitting, “It was fun to put Routt football back on the map.” As far as how Routt prepared Matthew for the real world – that’s an easy one: “My experience at Routt helped me to learn about the importance of community, friendship, and keeping God the center focus of my life.” 

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If you know of a Routt graduate who you would like to nominate as a future Alumnus of the Month, please email cdoyle@routtcatholic.com.