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Eric Schoh
Athletic Director
Years at Wayne State:
Fourth year
Education:
Bachelor's Degree - Iowa State University - 1991
Master's Degree - Iowa State University - 1995
Previous Positions:
Associate Athletic Director for Development - California
State University at Bakersfield
Associate Director of Athletics - University of South Dakota
Regional Director of Marketing - D.D. Marketing Inc.
Assistant Director of Athletics - Montana State University
at Billings
Contact Information:
Phone: (402)375-7520
E-mail: erschoh1@wsc.edu
Entering his fourth year as Director of Athletics
at Wayne State College, Eric Schoh has injected enthusiasm
and success into the Wildcat athletic department. A native
of LaCrescent, Minn., Schoh’s leadership, vision and
dedication has helped Wayne State become one of the top programs
in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and a Regional
contender.
Hired on August 1, 2004, Schoh became the fourth athletic
director for the Wildcats as an NCAA Division II school. He
inherited a department that was projected to have a substantial
scholarship deficit, was coming off of a year with debt in
both operations and scholarships, and could only dream of
a balanced budget. Since then, Schoh has guided a department
that has operated with a balanced scholarship budget and made
significant changes in operations, including a balanced budget
for the first time in over a decade.
“We have accomplished a great deal during two quick
years,” Schoh said. “It has certainly been the
most rewarding time in my professional career. We have tremendous
people at WSC that care a great deal about the campus, the
community and the athletic department. Their efforts are reflected
in the success of the department.”
During the 2006-07 academic year, Schoh guided a department
that produced five All-Americans, four conference championships
and 15 individual conference championships. Wayne State also
produced 54 first-team All-Conference performers, one Academic
All-American and 12 Academic All-District honorees. The Wildcat
women’s cross country team captured the first conference
championship in school history, while the men’s indoor
track and field team and the men’s outdoor track and
field team were crowned conference champions for the second
straight season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
The Wildcat volleyball team finished second in the conference,
which propelled them to their second-straight appearance in
the NCAA Regional volleyball tournament. The baseball team
continued its streak of conference titles, winning it fifth
conference crown in a row, and advancing to NCAA Regionals
for the fifth time in seven years. The soccer team had a strong
conference tournament finish by upsetting Bemidji State in
the first round on the road, advancing to the semifinals for
the second straight season. The football team had its second
straight .500 or better mark in the NSIC (4-4), while the
women’s indoor track and field team finished second
at the conference meet for the second straight season. All
of these accomplishments propelled the Wildcats to a third
place finish in the NSIC’s All Sports Trophy.
Wayne State College was also involved in hosting several
NCAA and NSIC Championship events during the 2006-07 year,
including the NCAA Div. II North Central Regional Cross Country
Championships and the NSIC Baseball Tournament. This coming
year, Wayne State will host the 2008 NSIC Outdoor Track and
Field Championships (May 9-10) and the NSIC Softball Crossover
Tournament scheduled for April 5-6, 2008.
“Everyone associated with Wildcat athletics should
be proud of our accomplishments this past year,” Schoh
said. “The student-athletes, coaches, campus community
and people of Wayne all had a hand in our success. It is a
credit to the quality student-athletes we have at Wayne State
when you are able to combine academic accomplishments with
athletic success.”
In addition to last year's athletic success, Schoh has led
a department that has had substantial academic accomplishments.
The Wildcats had 69 student athletes earn NSIC All-Academic
status during the 2006-07 academic year, the fourth most in
the conference. During the past two seasons, WSC has placed
142 student athletes on the conference's All-Academic Team,
the highest two-year total in school history. The 2006 WSC
volleyball team maintained a stellar 3.45 grade point average
to earn the Game Plan/AVCA Team Academic Award while the Wildcat
women's track and field team ranked 10th in NCAA Division
II with a cumulative grade point average of 3.40.
Prior to Schoh’s arrival in 2004, the department completed
renovations for the outdoor track and football stadium that
totaled almost two million dollars. One of Schoh’s goals
was to continue those types of facility improvements at WSC.
Last December, one of these continued facility improvements
was completed when the Ralph Barclay Wildcat Sports Medicine
Center opened its doors. This four thousand square foot athletic
training facility not only provides services to the department’s
student athletes, but also works with members of the Wayne
and campus communities through the physical therapy clinic
that is housed in the same area. Next on the facility plans
is a 3.8 million dollar renovation of the football stadium
and Rice Auditorium to provide a new athletic weight room,
locker rooms, expanded classrooms, and office space. This
project is scheduled to begin in December of 2007 and be completed
by fall of 2008. The past three years has seen tremendous
progress at the Pete Chapman baseball/softball complex, and
plans are in place for that to continue over the next several
years. Over the last year, the softball locker room was completed,
a new scoreboard installed for baseball and softball, significant
improvement to the playing surface on both fields along with
several other improvements.
“Wildcat athletics is a window to our college and we
are fortunate that our school’s administration and community
realize the importance of what strong facilities can do for
our campus,” Schoh said.
Schoh increased his leadership role within the NSIC and NCAA
during the past three years by being named to several prominent
committees, most notably the NCAA Division II Athletic Directors
Associate Executive Committee. He also serves as the baseball
liaison for the NSIC and is on the Men’s Basketball
North Central Regional selection committee. He also has served
on the Division II Regional Soccer and Women’s Basketball
Regional committees.
Prior to his arrival at WSC, Schoh was the Associate Athletic
Director for Development at California State University, Bakersfield.
At CSUB, Schoh was responsible for the management and leadership
of the department’s fundraising. In his two years in
that role, Schoh directed the fund raising campaigns to reach
their million dollar goal both years.
Schoh, 38, also made an impact on the campus and the community
in Vermillion, SD, where he was the Associate Athletic Director.
While at USD, Schoh had the opportunity to oversee and lead
many aspects of the athletic department, including fund raising,
compliance, operations, special events, game management, sport
information, tickets, and the business office. His proudest
accomplishment at USD was the implementation of the Pat O’Brien
Dinner Auction, which was an annual event that raised over
$400,000 in his four years at USD.
Schoh is no stranger to Division II. From 1995-97, he worked
at Montana State University, Billings as the Coordinator of
Marketing and Media Relations and the Assistant Athletic Director.
While there, he assisted the overall operations of the department,
again focusing on fund raising. MSUBillings was where Schoh
learned to do radio play-by-play announcing as he was the
voiceof the Yellowjackets men’s basketball team for
two seasons.
Schoh received a B.S. in journalism and mass communications
from Iowa State University in 1991. He earned a master’s
degree in sports administration from Iowa State University
in 1995. While completing his master’s degree, Schoh
was a graduate assistant for the Provost, focusing on the
NCAA Self Study and Certification process that recently had
been introduced. He also worked for three years with the Iowa
State Hockey team, and his accomplishments with Cyclone Hockey
were recognized in the summer of 2005 when he was inducted
into the Cyclone Hockey Hall of Fame. Schoh and his wife,
Stephanie, have three children, Paige (17), Eric (13) and
Tyler (11), and all are enjoying life in Wayne as members
of the Wildcat family.
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