TicketsAug. 30, 2007
CINCINNATI--The University of Cincinnati Department of Athletics has made eight administrative hirings and one internal promotion this summer in preparation for the 2007-08 academic year. The hirings start at the top, with two new members joining Director of Athletics Mike Thomas' Senior Staff.
The high-level hirings include Robin Martin as Associate AD and Senior Woman Administrator and Dan Krone as Assistant AD in charge of facilities and operations.
"We are pleased to add these eight talented individuals to our Athletics family," Thomas stated. "The experience, energy and leadership that each will bring to their new position will be invaluable to the UC community as we strive to achieve the goals set forth in our CATAPULT program."
In addition to the senior staff hirings, the academics and compliance offices, the equipment room and the UC external relations team were all touched by the new additions. In the academics area, Ronell Blizzard has been added as an Athletics Academic Advisor. The compliance office promoted Deborah Gray from Compliance Assistant to Coordinator of Eligibility and Financial Aid and added Mya Pronschinske to take Gray's previous role. The equipment room has a new supervisor with the hiring of Barry Boyd. In external relations, Lara Thornton is the new Associate Sports Communications Director and Brad Wurthman will serve as a Manager of Ticket Sales and Special Events.
Martin, who will oversee the academics area at UC, brings three years of experience as an athletics director to the Bearcats. She arrives in Cincinnati after a one-year stint as Director of Athletics at Holy Names University in Oakland, Calif. For the two years prior, Martin was the Athletics Director and Head Women's Basketball Coach at Dillard University in New Orleans. She has also coached at San Jose State and was the Executive Program Director of the Billy Ray Hobley A.S.K. Foundation for two years.
Krone comes to Cincinnati after a four-year stay at the University of Akron. While with the Zips, Krone served as the Athletics Field House Manager before being promoted to Director of the Athletics Field House and Building Services. Krone has also gained experience in intercollegiate athletics with stops at Eastern Michigan, Ball State, and Virginia.
Blizzard is the newest member of the Academic Services office where he will serve as the academic advisor for UC's football and women's basketball teams. During his post-collegiate career, Blizzard has worked in various capacities at Central Connecticut State, Eastern Connecticut State, Harvard, and Brown. After starting as a graduate assistant in academics at CCSU, Blizzard moved on to an Assistant AD/Director of Student-Athlete Development at ECSU. He comes to Cincinnati after spending last year as the recreation coordinator at Brown.
Boyd has been brought on board to head up the equipment needs of the 17 Bearcats sports. He arrive in Cincinnati after a stint as the Head Equipment Manager at the University of Tulsa. Prior to his stop in Oklahoma, Boyd spent served two stints at the United States Naval Academy and one at UCLA. Boyd also completed internships in the National Football League with the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints. During college at Oklahoma State, Boyd was a football student manager, including spending the last three years as head manager.
In the compliance area, Gray moves into the role of Coordinator of Eligibility and Financial Aid after spending one year as an assistant in the office. In her new role, Gray will coordinate and monitor the process for certification of eligibility and awarding of financial aid. In addition to her first year at Cincinnati, Gray has also worked as a marketing intern at Xavier and as an intern to the athletics director in the Goshen Local School District.
Former Bearcats golfer Pronschinske has been added to take over Gray's vacated role. As the compliance assistant, Pronschinske will prepare the monthly Compliance Corner newsletter along with other administrative tasks within the office. During her collegiate career, Pronschinske was a four-year letterwinner for the UC Women's Golf team. She graduated in June, 2007 with a degree in finance and served as the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as a senior.
The Sports Communications Office received a boost with the hiring of Thornton as an Associate Director. An accomplished graphic designer, Thornton joined the UC family after one year in a similar position at St. John's University. In addition to owning her own graphic design company, Perfect 10 Enterprises, Thornton also has seven years of experience from the University of Central Florida Sports Information Office. In her new position, Thornton will serve as the primary media contact for the UC Women's Basketball team, while handling publication and design projects for the Department.
Also joining the External Relations team is Wurthman in the position of Manager of Ticket Sales. A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, Wurthman has worked with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League since 2005. Wurthman began his stint as a marketing assistant, before being promoted to Coordinator, Youth Programming and Merchandise, a position he held for the past two years. At UC, Wurthman will work on group ticket sales and event marketing/promotions at UC athletics events.