WEST CHESTER, PA - West Chester University has announced the selection professor Reginald Nealy from the Department of Criminal Justice as the institutions new Faculty Athletic Representative.
The official appointment occurred on February 5, 2004, and features a longtime member of the Golden Ram community.
Nealy, who has served athletics in the past, is in his 20th year at WCU as both a teacher and advisor. He also volunteers his time to serve on several campus committees.
A resident of Reading, PA, Nealy resides in Berks County with his wife Sharon.
In the fall of 2003, Dennis Olenik and Lisa Haldas joined the WCU athletic staff as the new head coaches for mens and women tennis, respectively.
While both coaches had a limited schedule in the fall, the traditional spring season is beginning this week. The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championships will take place in April.
A USPTA certified instructor, Olenik has more than 15 years of diverse, regionally recognized experience as a professional teacher and manager.
Olenik's resume includes serving as the director of tennis at both the Victoria Racquet Club and the Wallingford Swim and Racquet Club since 2001.
From 1996-2001, Olenik was the head pro at the Healthplex Sports Club in Springfield, PA, while from 1988-1995 he served as the director of tennis at the Bryn Mawr Racquet Club.
During that same period of time, Olenik was the director of tennis at the DFTA Summer Tennis Camps in St. Davids, PA, that expanded a program featuring 75 juniors to 250 juniors and 75 adults.
A tennis instructor at the Overbrook Golf Club since 2002, Haldas played two years as a professional in both state and national tournaments. She also competed in the PAC 10 while attending Arizona State University for two years as an undergraduate.
Prior to working at the Overbrook Golf Club, Haldas served as a tennis instructor at the Healthplex Sports Club in Springfield, PA, from 1998-2001. She also was a tennis instructor at Manufacturers Country Club in 1992.
The Golden Ram softball team also added to its coaching staff before the season started when former University of Maryland standout Annmarie Kendall Browne joined the staff as an assistant coach.
A native of Lansdale, PA, and a graduate of North Penn High School, Brown completed her degree at Maryland in environmental science and policy in May of 2001.
She completed her four-year career as a Terrapin outfielder by setting the career record for sacrifice hits (60). She ranked ninth all-time in career home runs and 10th in at-bats. In 2001 she played in 62 games and set the single-season record with 39 sacrifice hits.
On Friday night, March 5, longtime West Chester University womens assistant basketball coach Jim Stinger announced his resignation. A teacher for the past 35 years in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at St. John Neumann, Stingers full-time responsibilities have increased.
Stinger has spent the past 12 seasons as Deirdre Kanes top assistant at West Chester University. He helped the Golden Rams to nine straight PSAC post-season appearances, three PSAC East titles and three NCAA Division II Championship appearances.
Stinger, who served six years as an assistant coach with the Lady Dragons of Drexel University beginning in 1986, has spent the past 37 years coaching collegiate and high school basketball throughout Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.
After graduating from Villanova with a bachelors degree in business administration in 1968, Stinger began coaching freshman basketball at Bishop Neumann High School. After three years he took over the varsity duties of the boys basketball program at Neumann, coaching the team from 1972-80. During his nine-year reign, Neumann qualified for the Catholic League playoffs six times.
In 1980 Stinger jumped to the collegiate ranks, taking over the womens head coaching responsibilities at Division III Widener University in 1980-81 and again from 1982-85. During the 1981-82 campaign, Stinger served as an assistant mens basketball coach at Widener.
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While coaching the women, Stinger led the Lady Pioneers to the Middle Atlantic Conference playoffs four times, capturing the conference championship twice. The one year he served as an assistant to the mens team, the Pioneers were the MAC Champions and the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Runner-up.
West Chester University and Kings College graduate Brian Trotter was promoted to the position of Athletic Director of the Penn-Delco School District (Sun Valley High School) in February after spending seven years cutting his teeth as WCUs assistant athletic director. He handled facility management, equipment room and game operations, scheduling and the assignment of officials and event staff.
Trotter also was the coordinator of the NCAA/CHAMPS Life Skills program at WCU.
In the Fall of 1999, Trotter was named to the NCAA Mens Lacrosse Committee as a Division II Representative, then served as the chair of the Division II committee from September of 2001 to September of 2003. He also served as a member of the NCAA II Mens Lacrosse Rules Committee for two years. In 2000, Trotter took over the responsibilities as chair of the ECAC II Mens Lacrosse Committee and was named to the ECAC II Baseball Committee in 2001.
A 1995 graduate of Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, PA, Trotter was a student-athlete during his undergraduate career. He was a dual-sport athlete competing on the wrestling and football teams. He also served as an intern in the athletic department at Gwynedd Mercy College.
In 1997, Trotter earned his masters degree in sport and athletic administration from West Chester University. He served as an intern in the WCU Department of Athletics before earning the role of assistant athletic director. Trotter is presently a doctoral candidate at Widener University in Chester, PA.
Longtime assistant football coach Steff Kruck announced his resignation in early March to accept the position of offensive coordinator at Kutztown University. Kruck spent the past 10 seasons with the Golden Rams - 11 overall in his career - after serving four years as the offensive coordinator at Fordham University.
In his first stint with WCU in 1988, Kruck served as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach, igniting WCU to its first NCAA Division II Playoff berth. He coached All-Americans Al Niemela and Billy Hess that season.
In 1994, he coached two more All-Americans in quarterback Dave MacDonald and wide receiver Brian Penecale as the Golden Rams again traveled to the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
In 1996 under his tutelage, freshman quarterback Mike Mitros was named the ECAC Division II South and the PSAC East Rookie of the Year. In 1999, Mitros was named the ECAC II South Offensive Player of the Year, while receiver Kevin Ingram was named an AP Little All-American and an AFCA All-American.
During the 1998 season, Kruck was instrumental in leading the WCU offense to the National Championship for team passing, while Mitros was the total offense National Champion and Ingram led the nation in receptions and receiving yards per game. Ingram also set an NCAA Division II record vs. Clarion University that season by becoming just the second player at any level to record over 400 receiving yards in one game.
After leading the West Chester University womens soccer team to its first NCAA Division II Playoff berth in school history, head coach Deb Flaherty has moved up to the Division I ranks as the head coach of The College of Holy Cross in her native Massachusetts. She resigned her WCU position in late February.
Flaherty led WCU to a 12-6-3 overall mark in 2003, including a victory over PSAC Champion Slippery Rock in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. In three seasons as the teams head coach, Flaherty produced a stellar 22-12-7 overall record.
A 1998 graduate of the University of Michigan, Flaherty served as the University of Daytons junior varsity head coach and assistant varsity coach for two years. She was the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Michigan in 1998-99 and served as a volunteer coach in the fall of 1998.
A three-year varsity captain for the Wolverines, Flaherty earned All-Big Ten (1994-96) and Academic All-Big Ten accolades (1996-98) during her career. She claimed Team MVP honors in 1994, 1996 and 1997.
West Chester University Transactions
Mens Tennis - named Dennis Olenik head coach.
Womens Tennis - named Lisa Haldas head coach.
Softball - named Annmarie Kendall Brown assistant coach.
Athletic Administration - named Reginald Nealy Faculty Athletic Representative; announced the resignation of assistant athletic director Brian Trotter to accept the position of Athletic Director for the Penn-Delco (PA) School District.
Football - announced the resignation of assistant coach Steff Kruck to accept the position of offensive coordinator at Kutztown University.
Womens Basketball - announced the resignation of assistant coach Jim Stinger.
Womens Soccer - announced the resignation of head coach Deb Flaherty to accept the position of head coach at The College of Holy Cross.
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