Ashland University’s Bill Goldring Named 2014 GLIAC “Tom Donahue Award” Recipient

Ashland University’s Bill Goldring Named  2014 GLIAC “Tom Donahue Award” Recipient

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BAY CITY, Mich. — Ashland University director of athletics Bill Goldring has been named the recipient of the 2014 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) “Tom Donahue Service Award.” Goldring, who is retiring in early July, received the award during the conference’s spring meetings, which were held last week in Gaylord, Mich.

    The Donahue Service Award is selected by administrators from around the league. It is presented annually to an administrator at a conference school who makes significant contributions to the GLIAC and intercollegiate athletics and exemplifies the highest standard of dedication to the league and its student-athletes set by former GLIAC commissioner Tom Donahue.

    Goldring is the 26th recipient of this award. He is the second Ashland University administrator to be honored. Former faculty athletics representative Bob Wendling received the Donahue Award in 2005.  Goldring is completing his 16th year as AU’s director of athletics. This is his 35th year in college athletics administration.

    Goldring was presented with the award on Tuesday evening, May 20.  AU women’s basketball coach/senior women’s administrator Sue Ramsey and assistant athletic director Al King, plus Grand Valley State athletic director Tim Selgo and GLIAC commissioner Dell Robinson presented testimonials about Goldring.  The next day, at the GLIAC Management Council meeting, athletic directors, senior women’s administrators and faculty athletic representatives in attendance wore purple to honor Goldring.  

    Goldring is known as an innovator and a driving force for change on the conference, regional and national levels. He’s also respected for his expertise in building exceptional all-around athletic programs. Twice (2005-06, 2011-12) at Ashland he’s been recognized as the NCAA Division II Northeast Region athletic director of the year.

    Under Goldring’s direction, Ashland’s 19-varsity sport program has reached unprecedented heights. AU has finished third in the national Learfield Directors’ Cup standings each of the last two years. That’s the highest finish by any private school in the country. Ashland is one of only three schools to finish in the Learfield Directors’ Cup Top 10 for six consecutive seasons.

    With Goldring as the director of athletics, the Eagles have won one national championship, made 64 NCAA postseason team appearances, won 14 NCAA regional championships and claimed 48 GLIAC titles.

    In 2013-14, 13 AU teams reached the NCAA postseason. The men’s track and field team finished second indoors and third outdoors. Drew Windle was named the indoor athlete of the year and completed his junior year with a total of five, career national championships. The volleyball team advanced to the NCAA postseason for the second consecutive season. Football’s Jamie Meder was a first team All-American and was signed to a free agent contract by the Baltimore Ravens. The Eagles are ranked in the nation’s Top 10 again in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings (final standings will not be available for several more weeks).

    In 2012-2013, the AU women’s basketball team won the NCAA Division II national championship. That same year, the men’s track and field program finished as the national runner-up indoors and outdoors and the athletic department boasted nine national championships. The Eagles sent 16 teams to NCAA postseason play, saw 48 student-athletes receive All-America laurels and won GLIAC crowns in football, women’s basketball, outdoor track and field and baseball. The conference championship in football was the first in program history and the Eagles completed the regular season undefeated and went to the NCAA playoffs for the fifth time in school history.

    Goldring was a driving force in the planning of the Dwight Schar Athletic Complex, which houses AU’s football, track and field and soccer programs. He also led the charge to renovate Kates Gymnasium. That facility was revamped this past year.  The university has also renovated and updated the baseball stadium and upgraded the Kates Gymnasium weight room on Goldring’s watch.

    During Goldring’s tenure the university has added women’s tennis and women’s golf as varsity sports. A stickler for the development of the all-around student-athlete, Goldring has worked tirelessly to provide AU student-athletes with a comprehensive all-around experience.

 Part of that equation is putting a system in place so that AU student-athletes can enjoy success in multiple areas. A year ago, five student-athletes were recognized as Capital One First Team Academic All-Americans and AU had the Capital One Academic All-American of the Year in women’s basketball and women’s at-large voting. In 2009-10, the men’s track and field team was honored as the top Scholar-Athlete team in the nation for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. For the spring, 2014 semester, 15 AU teams had a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or higher. The cumulative grade point average for all teams for the semester was 3.18.

    Prior to arriving at Ashland, Goldring served as the director of athletics at Morningside for three years. His background also includes stops at Jacksonville (Fla.), Indiana State and Iowa State. He was the sports information director at Jacksonville, the sports information director and then an associate athletic director at Indiana State and finally the assistant athletic director for business at Iowa State.

    Goldring becomes the 26th recipient of the Donahue Award and the first from Tiffin to earn the accolades.

The previous award winners are:

Year Recipient Institution
1988 George MacDonald Grand Valley State University
1989 Bob Hensee Hillsdale College
1990 Ted Kearly Michigan Technological University
1991 Barb Patrick Northern Michigan University
1992 Bud Cooper Lake Superior State University
1993 Vern Norris Commissioner, GLIAC
1994 Dorothy Dreyer Wayne State University
1995 Dr. Thomas Hendrix Grand Valley State University
1996 Jack McAvoy Hillsdale College
1997 Jack Finn Northwood University
1999 Bob Becker Saginaw Valley State University
2000 Chris Petrouleas Wayne State University
2001 Joan Boand Grand Valley State University
2002 Dr. Charles Jones Lake Superior State University
2003 Dr. Mark Kosciuszko Ferris State University
2004 Michael Corbett Gannon University
2005 Bob Wendling Ashland University
2006 Rick Yeo Michigan Technological University
2007 Bill Crawford Lake Superior State University
2008 Bob Brennan Wayne State University
2009 Tom Brown Commissioner, GLIAC
2010 George Eastland Saginaw Valley State University
2011 Tom Kirinovic Ferris State University
2012 Arend D. Lubbers Grand Valley State University
2013 Dr. Bonnie Tiel Tiffin University
2014 Bill Goldring Ashland University