Scott native Jennifer Winningham Owens returns home as head athletic trainer at TN Tech
Scott High Class of 1999 graduate, daughter of late Rep. Les Winningham, has been at UNC Charlotte for the past 12 years
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. | Scott County native Jennifer Winningham is coming home — not to Scott County, but to Tennessee Tech, her alma mater.
Winningham has been named head athletic trainer and director of sports medicine at Tennessee Tech. The Helenwood native graduated from Scott High School in 1999 and received her B.S. in English-Journalism from TTU in 2003. After completing her master’s at Louisiana Tech, she returned to TTU to begin her career in sports medicine. She spent four years as an assistant athletic trainer with the women’s soccer and softball programs at TTU.
Winningham is the daughter of the late Les and Peggy Pickens Winningham. Her father represented Scott County in the state legislature for more than 25 years and was principal at Scott High School in the 1980s and early 1990s. She is married to Shon Owens, who is also a Scott County native.
“Tennessee Tech means so much to the Winningham family that I wish my parents were still here to see things come full circle.”
Following stints at Tennessee Tech and Louisiana-Monroe, Winningham moved to UNC-Charlotte in 2013. She has spent 12 years in Charlotte, primarily working with the 49ers’ women’s basketball program. She was promoted to associate head athletic trainer in 2016.
During her 12-year stint in Charlotte, Winningham served as Covid-19 coordinator during the pandemic, which included daily testing for all athletic teams, contact tracing and other duties. She has also worked with several WNBA players, including Maya Caldwell of the Atlanta Dream, Tiffany Mitchell of the Las Vegas Aces, and former Lady Vol Cierra Burdick.
Winningham said on Facebook on Tuesday that she is making the move to Tennessee Tech, saying, “God’s timing…It’s never early…It’s never late…It’s on time. Every time.”
As the head athletic trainer at Tech, Winningham will oversee healthcare of all Golden Eagle student-athletes, while managing a staff of assistant athletic trainers and physical therapist.
“My responsibility will be making sure all teams are adequately covered and adequate healthcare is provided to student-athletes,” she said. “I am currently reaching out to all coaches and staff members to try to figure out what is going to be the best to move Tennessee Tech Sports Medicine forward.
“I want Tech to have the best sports medicine staff in the Ohio Valley Conference,” she added. “It is going to be a lot of hard work but I feel like I am up to the challenge and no one has more pride in Tennessee Tech than I do.”
Winningham said the opportunity at TTU is a dream come true.
“Returning to Tech means the world to me,” she said. “I have always hoped that some day the opportunity to lead Tennessee Tech Sports Medicine would come and it finally has. This isn’t a position that I just applied for. It is a position I have wanted for 15 years but was too inexperienced when it was open.”
The Winningham family’s roots run deep at TTU. Les Winningham received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Tech. The Winningham daughters attended TTU, as well; all five of them graduated from Tech, and three of them returned to Tech for their master’s degrees.
“Tennessee Tech means so much to the Winningham family that I wish my parents were still here to see things come full circle,” she said.
While Winningham is starting a new job at TTU, her first day at work won’t actually be until June 16. That’s because she’s preparing to donate a kidney in May to a former coworker, Jason Dunavant. He is also an athletic trainer, and the two met 15 years ago at Louisiana-Monroe.
Winningham’s twin sister, Sarah Winningham Keith, is currently an assistant district attorney in Tennessee’s 7th Judicial District, which includes Anderson County. Her other sisters include Carrie Winningham Scott, Allison Winningham Goolsby, and Shannon Winningham Railling. Allison and Shannon remain in the Cookeville area with their families.
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