The A-R-Conversation: Recent Episodes
American Rivers Conference
Do NOT miss the testimonial by Aubrey Havlchek, volleyball coach at Buena Vista University, at the end of this podcast. Aubrey has a powerful story to tell about her journey with mental-health wellness. Also, we cover "milestones" and news from the NCAA.
Ryan Callahan has been the Head Athletic Trainer at Wartburg College since 2014. He talks COVID-19 fresh off a major webinar sponsored by the Intercollegiate Council of Sports Medicine, a group that he chairs in Division III. Enjoy this half hour with Ryan Callahan!
Dan Runkle has been the Director of Athletics at the University of Dubuque since 2002. Prior to that, he was a college football coach for 34 years. "Runk" already is a member of two Halls of Fame (Illinois College, his alma mater, and Minnesota-Mankato). This interview closes out our series with the Directors of Athletics for the American Rivers Conference.
Central College Director of Athletics Eric Van Kley is our guest today. Eric has been the head wrestling coach at Central since 2007 and was elevated to Director of Athletics in 2012. We talked COVID-19, a hopeful way forward, the Forever Dutch campaign, and ... Dan Gable. We are in Iowa, after all!
Ira Zeff has been the Director of Athletics at Nebraska Wesleyan since 1998. The Prairie Wolves are the newest member of the conference, admitted in 2016. Ira has been active nationally as member and then chair of two prominent committees -- the Division III Championships Committee and the Division III Men's Basketball Committee.
We close out the week with our sixth in the series of AD interviews. Bob Nutgrass was named Director of Athletics at Simpson College in the summer of 2018. He's been at Simpson for 29 years, including stints as an Assistant AD, Compliance Coordinator, head coach of tennis, and assistant coach of men's basketball. We cover a lot of ground in this interview with Bob.
Buena Vista Director of Athletics Jack Denholm has been in Storm Lake for the past four years. He was an AD at two other stops in his career, including at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa. Jack was a two-time wrestling All-American at Wartburg College and now is making a big impact in the conference where he was once a student-athlete.
Rick Willis has been the Director of Athletics at Wartburg College for 15 years, leading the department to major athletics accomplishments year-after-year. He's also been the head football coach for the Knights for 20 years. His overall record of 175-44 (.799 winning percentage) accounts for the most wins in program history. Rick has three sons who have played or are playing baseball in the conference. We cover that and much more in this edition of The A-R-Conversation.
Denise Udelhofen has been Director of Athletics at Loras College since 2015. She has spent 25 years at her alma mater in various roles through the years. She has coached men's and women's golf, volleyball, and softball; she was an Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator for five years before her promotion to AD. Denise currently serves on the NCAA DIII Management Council.
Two of the A-R-C's Directors of Athletics serve dual roles as head coaches of spring sports teams. We heard from Renae Hartl at Luther last week. This week's it's Coe AD / Head Baseball Coach Steve Cook's time to step into the Conversation's batter's box. Steve has been AD for only 2-1/2 months ... and what a "welcome" it's been!
Among our Directors of Athletics, we wanted to start with Luther's Renae Hartl because of her dual role as administrator and head coach of a spring sport. Obviously, the spring sports have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 crisis. Renae shares her insight from both perspectives on this episode.
Braly Keller is a senior student-athlete at Nebraska Wesleyan University. A member of the NCAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Braly was elected Chair of the NSAAC by his peers in January. Braly's perspective on the COVID-19 impact is unique and informative.
This is the maiden ship for the A-R-Conversation. Hope you enjoy this exchange between Dan Hammes, Deputy Commissioner of the A-R-C, and Chuck Yrigoyen, A-R-C Commissioner