She’s the daughter of a former Olympian and an Olympic-level athlete, both track stars from Romania.

And now York resident Elizabeth Ionescu has her own sights set on national – and maybe international – goals in her own sport, tennis. WellSpan is helping her to make her dreams come true.

Elizabeth, 16, is ranked No. 4 in the national recruiting list. She regularly plays in tournaments all over the country and is scheduled to appear in the region in the Koser Jewelers $100,000 Tennis Challenge, from Aug. 5 to 11, in Lancaster County.

The tennis player is enrolled in the WellSpan WellFit program, a medically guided, personalized sports medicine program for athletes and others striving to improve their overall fitness or wellness. Since 2019, she regularly sees Zach Miller, an exercise and wellness specialist in the program, to stay fit and healthy.

Elizabeth Ionescu with Zach Miller, her WellSpan trainer and strength coach.

“He helps with anything I need,” says Elizabeth, who considers Zach her trainer and strength coach. “He can help me with strengthening or recovery if I have an injury or am in pain. He definitely has made me more organized and keeps me on track physically and mentally and is a great supporter.”

Zach started working with Elizabeth when she was just 12 and, together with her parents, they set their sights on a long-term athletic development plan. The goal is to carefully and functionally care for her body to prevent injuries, keep her healthy, and increase her performance.

Elizabeth’s family is very familiar with the demands and impact of a training regimen. Her father, Florin, competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics in the steeplechase event for Romania, and her mother, Simona, was a member of the Romanian national track team, competing in the 400-meter and 800-meter events.

Her parents started playing tennis when Elizabeth was very small and she picked up a racquet herself when she was just 3, swinging at a foam ball her dad attached to a string hanging from their basement ceiling. Her father now is her coach, and she trains at the Wisehaven Tennis Center, where he is a high performance coach.

She hopes to eventually qualify for the U.S. Open Junior tournament and play in college, using that as a springboard for a pro career or maybe even the Olympics.

“I would love to follow in my father’s footsteps in a different sport but there is definitely a lot to accomplish first,” she says.

Zach has high hopes for his patient.

“I want her to be the best collegiate player in the country and then fulfill her dreams of playing professional tennis,” he says. “I want her to be healthy and happy and to never stop having fun playing tennis, whatever stage of life she’s at.”

To find out more about our experts in sports medicine, go here.