Dr. Mercedes Himmons begins her third with the Southern Sports Medicine staff in the 2025-26 academic year. She will serve as the primary contact for gymnastics, volleyball and women's track & field. 

Prior to arriving at Southern, Dr. Mercedes was an assistant athletic trainer at California University of PA (Cal U). She provided healthcare to the women’s basketball and women’s soccer teams.  Dr. Mercedes was the athletic trainer for the 2022-23 Women’s Basketball PSAC Champion team.  Himmons earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cal U in 2010 and 2011, respectively. While at Cal U, she worked with the volleyball team in 2008 that advanced to the national quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The previous year, she completed an internship with Thomas Jefferson High School (PA) when the Jaguars won the PIAA football state championship.
 
Before returning to Cal U, Himmons spent time at Arcadia and Gwynedd Mercy, which are both NCAA Division III schools outside of Philadelphia. At Gwynedd Mercy, she served as the primary contact for the women’s soccer, cross country, track & field, women’s lacrosse, and cheerleading teams. Himmons was the head athletic trainer at Arcadia after spending time with the men’s soccer, swimming, and women’s lacrosse teams. She worked with the women’s lacrosse team in 2014 when it captured the conference title to earn its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Himmons is a Corrective Exercise Specialist and a Performance Enhancement Specialist through NASM. Himmons has been certified since 2011, is a member of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA), serves as the District 2 Ethnic Diversity Advisory Committee Representative, and volunteers with the Pennsylvania Athletic Trainers’ Society (PATS). She also serves on the NCAA Committee on Access, Opportunities, and Impact. Dr. Himmons is in the 2025 Cohort for the NCAA Division II Athletic Directors Association Mentoring Program.
 
She completed her doctorate degree from Robert Morris in Instructional Management and Leadership. Her research interests include minority student-athlete retention, diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in athletic training and higher education, and higher education retention.

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