Our Team

IN MEMORIAM:

Luke Menke, MSPT

Luke was born in the high mountain town of Leadville, CO and grew up in Carbondale located in the beautiful Roaring Fork Valley on Colorado’s western slope. He attended Colorado State University in Ft. Collins on full scholarship and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Exercise & Sport Science with a Sports Medicine concentration. Luke earned his Master’s in Physical Therapy at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida in 1998. His first job out of PT school involved working closely with world-renowned orthopedic surgeon to the superstars: Dr. James Andrews; and the country’s most respected shoulder and knee physical therapist: Kevin Wilk. Luke started practicing in Littleton around 2001 and founded Panther Physical Therapy in 2006. The state-of-the-art sports performance addition was completed in the fall of 2013. Luke had a passion for working with young athletes and certainly enjoys working with any individual who is willing to take an active role in overcoming their injury or improving their performance. He worked with professional athletes from just about every major sport. Luke played football, baseball and wrestled in high school and loved playing collegiate and men’s club rugby into his late 20’s.  Luke was an Athlete’s Performance (EXOS) Level 2 mentor, a certified Functional Movement Screen specialist, a member of the American Physical Therapy Association’s orthopedic section, sports section and private practice section. He was also a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association and Titleist Golf Performance Institute certified. Luke’s idol was his father Pat, who was an incredibly perseverant and compassionate human being with a fantastic moral compass and an ornery sense of humor. Luke is survived by his wife Erin, daughter Skyler and son Murphy.

Alissa Powers PT, DPT, ATC

Alissa joined the Panther team in the Spring of 2013. She is a home-grown Coloradoan and has been a sports enthusiast and outdoor adventurer her entire life. She double majored in Athletic Training and Kinesiology at Colorado Mesa University. With a combination of numerous injuries and her passion of helping others, she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a Physical Therapist. She graduated from the University of Colorado- Anschutz Medical Campus with her Doctorate of Physical Therapy in 2012.  She has a passion for rehabilitating athletes of all levels and helping them return to the top of their game. She enjoys treating a wide variety of orthopedic diagnoses and especially enjoys working with the hip joint. She is certified in functional dry needling and uses this treatment approach in conjunction with other manual interventions to accelerate recovery. When Alissa is not at work, she is adventuring with her awesome husband and 3 kids.

David Quinn, DPT

David is from Freetown, Massachusetts and attended Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut to earn his Athletic Training degree in 2019 and Doctorate of Physical Therapy in May of 2022. A true passion for sports, outdoor activities, and previous injuries leads him along this journey. David decided to pursue sports rehabilitation and performance after various clinical rotations and internships involving Division 1, professional sports, and sports rehabilitation facilities all over the United States and Europe. He has decided to ship off to Colorado to continue this passion to work with active individuals and develop as a clinician and as a sports rehabilitation specialist. He is part of the US Ski and Snowboard volunteer pool, SMT-1, and and is working on his dry needling certification. David truly believes in listening to the patient to understand their interests and passion to get them back to participating in their favorite activities or sports. Some of David’s hobbies include snowboarding, hiking, surfing, traveling, and recreational sports. He also looks forward to learning how to downhill bike and meeting new friends.

Jenny Whiddon PT, DPT, CSCS

Jenny Joined the Panther team in 2019. She is a Colorado native born and raised in Littleton, Colorado. Jenny graduated from University of Utah with her BS in Exercise Sport Science with a minor in Nutrition and went on to earn her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree at the University of Colorado in 2017. As a former All-American Division I collegiate soccer player, Jenny has developed a strong passion for working with an active population. She understands the demands placed on athletes during all stages of training, as well as, obstacles they may face in rehabilitation after undergoing 6 knee surgeries throughout her career. She has also completed continuing education courses focused on evaluation and treatment of higher-level athletes including the CrossFit athlete, and endurance athletes (runners, cyclists, and triathletes). She is also certified in Trigger Point Dry Needling. Jenny is a member of the APTA and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Jenny has a strong passion for the outdoors and when not in the clinic you can find her mountain biking, competing in triathlons, or camping with her growing family and husband. She looks forward to sharing her love of the outdoors and active lifestyle with individuals to help instill healthy lifelong hobbies and habits.  

Keith Firsch PT, DPT

Keith was born and raised in Michigan. He graduated from Washtenaw Community College in 2012 as a physical therapist assistant. In 2019 he completed his B.S. in Healthcare Management and in 2022 earned his Doctorate in Physical Therapy, both from the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio. Since moving to Colorado in 2014, Keith and his wife enjoy all the state has to offer, spending most of their time outdoors. Keith’s treatment philosophy couples manual therapies with active interventions to return his patients to their prior level of function with as much independence as possible. 

Nicole Viseur PT, DPT

Nicole Viseur is a Southern California native who grew up spending the majority of her time balancing academics and playing competitive soccer. She graduated from Wake Forest University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in Health and Exercise Science. She then moved to Colorado where she received her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in 2016.

Nicole worked at Panther for 4 years following graduation prior to moving to San Diego where she supported her husband through his residency program. During her time in San Diego, she worked as a clinic director running and managing an outpatient sports PT clinic. She and her husband are happy to be back in Colorado and she is excited to be back working at Panther. She believes in a patient-centered, team-based approach to care, treating patients and athletes of all ages and abilities. She loves the impact she is able to make to improve each patient’s quality of life and function. Nicole enjoys furthering her education and has received certifications in Functional Dry Needling and Rocktape. In her free time she enjoys skiing, camping, and boating with her husband and dog named Banjo.

Mark Wagner, MS, XPS, XFS

Mark began his pursuit of performance and fitness like many others in the industry: as an athlete looking to gain a competitive edge. His passion for exercise and nutrition led him to Kent State University, in Kent, OH where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Exercise Science and Master of Arts in Exercise Science. While in higher education, he obtained a Graduate Assistantship within the Exercise Science department allowing him to teach multiple courses in health, fitness, and exercise physiology.

After grad school, Mark moved out to Phoenix, AZ where he completed an intensive internship with EXOS, an elite athlete-focused training center. Following the internship, he was hired on full-time with concentration on running semi-private and group training in a corporate setting. After two gratifying years in AZ, Mark received a unique career opportunity to run a Fortune 50 company’s state of the art fitness center in Chicago, IL. During that time, he helped implement world-class member experience while helping to develop the performance coaching team with particular emphasis on continued education and practical application. Fours years later Mark moved out to Colorado Springs, CO to help launch and grow an adult and youth sports performance program. Most recently he spent a year in New York City in adidas’ largest global retail space serving as Performance Manager of a performance coaching team dedicated to providing innovative training and education techniques for both consumers and adidas’ employees. Regardless of the environment and demographic, Mark’s mission remains focused on helping others improve their lives.

Outside of work, Mark enjoys spending time with his nephews and niece and leads a very active lifestyle, a driving force behind his relocation back to CO!