CWU Athletic Director Finalists Coming to Ellensburg | CWU Public Affairs

The finalists for the position of Central Washington University athletic director have been selected and will participate in Ellensburg community forums, which are open to the public, during the next three weeks. Each forum will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.  A complete resume for each candidate is available here.

Gail Farmer, search committee chair, said, “From a large and diverse pool of candidates, our search committee has selected an excellent set of finalists, all of whom have outstanding experience in intercollegiate athletics. We’re excited to bring these highly qualified candidates to campus.”

The five finalists are:

     • Dennis Francois, associate director of athletics for external affairs at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa since 2008. Between 2005 and 2008, he was the director of athletics and recreational sports at Southern Oregon University, in Ashland, and executive director of the university’s Raider Club. Francois’s community forum will be held Wednesday, April 3, in the Hal Holmes Center, Kittitas Room.

     • Gary Hyatt, associate athletic director for compliance and academics at CWU since 2009. He was Central’s assistant athletic director for compliance and academics from 2007 to 2009. Between 2000 and 2007, Hyatt was the director of football operations at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Hyatt’s community forum is scheduled for Monday, April 8, in the Hal Holmes Center, Teanaway Room.

     • Tracee Passeggi, associate athletic director and senior woman administrator at Cal Poly Pomona since 2008. Between 2005 and 2008, she held the same positions at San Francisco State University. Passeggi was also assistant athletic director compliance and varsity sports at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, from 2003 to 2005. Passeggi’s community forum will be held Wednesday, April 10, in the Hal Holmes Center, Kittitas Room.

     • Greg Waggoner, athletic director/director for development at Western State Colorado University, in Gunnison, Colorado since 2004. Waggoner has served as the university’s athletic director since 1994, and also was its head wrestling coach from 1985 to 1997. In addition, he is a professor of exercise and sport science. Waggoner’s community forum will be held Thursday, April 11, in the Hal Holmes Center, Ellensburg Room.

     • Barbara Dearing, associate athletic director for business and financial operations and senior woman administrator at Portland State University since 2008. Between 2004 and 2007, she held the same posts at Longwood University, Farmville, Virginia. She was also head softball coach and physical education instructor at Presbyterian College, Clinton, South Carolina. Dearing’s community forum is scheduled for Monday, April 15, in the City of Ellensburg, Chamber Room.

The person selected, who is expected to start on July 1, will follow Jack Bishop, who is retiring after serving as CWU’s athletic director since 2000.

D2 ADA Announces Kathleen Brasfield and Jack Bishop as 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award Winners

CLEVELAND – The Division 2 Athletics Directors Association (D2 ADA) has announced the recipients of the 2013 D2 ADA Lifetime Achievement Award – Kathleen Brasfield, former director of athletics at Angelo State University (ASU) and Jack Bishop, athletics director at Central Washington University (CWU).  The Lifetime Achievement Award is given to athletics directors who have exemplified superior achievement during their career at the Division II level.

Bishop has spent the last 13 years at the helm of CWU, completing the university’s transition from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) to NCAA Division II. He previously spent time as athletics director at Southern Utah University (SUU) and assistant (for advancement) to the SUU President. (READ MORE…)

Holtman carried home to Central Washington | ESPN W

By: Graham Hays
Published: May 31, 2012

Courtesy of Graham Hays | Mallory Holtman recently completed her second season as softball coach at her alma mater, Central Washington.

ELLENSBURG, Wash. — Standing at the railing in a dugout normally reserved for the home team in the old Yankee Stadium, real estate once occupied by the likes of Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle, Mallory Holtman watched ball after ball sail over the iconic checkerboard outfield grass and settle back down to earth in the seats beyond during the 2008 Home Run Derby. As Texas Rangers star Josh Hamilton put on a show at the plate, the night sky in the Bronx was illuminated by camera flashes as much as by the stadium lights high above her.

It was a sensation at once familiar and foreign. The nice hotel, the gift bag and the gate attendants at the stadium who passed around her ticket before politely suggesting she and the other two girls might want to try the VIP entrance the next time — all of that was new, if not exactly unpleasant. But much of her life to that point had been spent in dugouts, more hours than might be wise to count and certainly more hours than she spent sitting in stands, so those surroundings, at least, felt normal. Or they did until someone like Derek Jeter walked by as casually as if he was in, well, his dugout. It was like a person who had been raised on ponds stumbling across the Pacific Ocean. (READ MORE…)

CWU Athletic Director to be Inducted into Utah Sports Hall of Fame | CWU Public Affairs

Posted: March 12. 2012

Central Washington University Athletic Director Jack Bishop will be among four new inductees into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame during ceremonies March 22 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“This is certainly the greatest award I’ve received and I’m very excited about it,” Bishop said. “I spent a lot of time in Utah, 32 years coaching high school and at the [Southern Utah] university in several different roles.”

From 1969-76, Bishop was one of Utah’s most successful high school football, wrestling, and track coaches. His Cedar [City, Utah] High School (CHS) football team was regional champion in 1976. He coached two CHS teams to state track titles and won one state wrestling championship at Heber City’s Wasatch High. Bishop also coached at Hurricane and Panguitch high schools.

“I was also heavily involved as an official in wrestling, but I also officiated [junior varsity] basketball,” Bishop noted, adding with a laugh, “I was a little trimmer then.”

Bishop is the winningest football coach in history at his alma mater, Southern Utah University (SUU), and served as the school’s athletic director. He led the progression of the school’s athletic program from NAIA to NCAA Division II status, and then to SUU’s present classification at the NCAA Division I-Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. In addition, he was a driving force behind construction of SUU’s 5,300 seat Centrum Arena.

While at SUU, Bishop was also heavily involved in the initial development of the Utah Summer Games, which is a mock Olympics competition for people of all ages.

“I’ve always been blessed to be around great people,” Bishop said. “Who you’re surrounded by has a lot to do with your success. It’s amazing what a group of people can do when they don’t care who gets the credit. I’ve been lucky to have good players, good coaches, good administrators, and good friends around me.”

Upon his induction, Bishop will join several previously inducted members of the Utah Sports Hall of Fame whom he holds in high esteem.

“As I grew up, my first ‘idol’ in coaching and the person I tried to emulate was [BYU football coach] LaVell Edwards; I always believed in a lot of the things he did,” Bishop said.  “I’ve always been a huge Jerry Sloan [former Utah Jazz coach] fan and to think that you’re in the same Hall of Fame is incredible.”

Bishop was a standout athlete in Utah, participated in football and rodeo at both Ricks College and SUU before receiving his Bachelor of Science in zoology there in 1970. In 1980, he completed his Master of Science degree at Utah State.

Still active in rodeo, Bishop, 64, has been married to his wife, Carol, for 41 years. They live in Ellensburg, Washington, and have three children: sons Ryan, 38, and Brock, 27; and daughter Jacqueline.

The Utah Sports Hall of Fame Foundation was founded in 1967 to help celebrate and preserve the state’s sports heritage. A plaque of each inductee into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame is placed on display in the EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.

CWU women’s basketball seeks energy in home trio this weekend – Daily Record: Sports

Central Washington University head coach Shawn Nelson hammered

home two words after the Wildcats’ latest Great Northwest Athletic

Conference w…

via CWU women’s basketball seeks energy in home trio this weekend – Daily Record: Sports.

Nelson’s Career Night Leads CWU to Blowout of Walla Walla – NBC Right Now/KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA |

Nelson’s Career Night Leads CWU to Blowout of Walla Walla – NBC Right Now/KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA |.
Central Washington University senior Ted Nelson (Hoquiam, Wash.) had career-highs of 13 points and 11 rebounds, earning the first double-double of his career and leading the Wildcat men’s basketball team to a 110-71 victory over Walla Walla University on Tuesday evening at Nicholson Pavilion.

Bighill Selected as 2010-11 GNAC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year | CWU Athletics

 

 

By: Jonathan Gordon | CWU Athletics
Published: June 8, 2011

SPOKANE (June 8) — Former Central Washington University football player Adam Bighill has been named the 2010-11 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year in a vote of conference athletic directors, the GNAC office announced Wednesday. (READ MORE…)