Athletic Director's Blog
From the Desk of Dr. Kelly J. Higgins
Dr. Kelly J. Higgins, Director of Athletics
Athletic Director's Blog · June 15, 2011
I wish all true Skyhawks nothing but the best
DURANGO, Colo. — Dr. Kelly J. Higgins has tendered his resignation as athletic director for Fort Lewis College effective August 31, 2011. The appointment of an interim athletic director and news of a search for a permanent replacement will be made in the near future.
Dear friends, colleagues, student-athletes, coaches and Skyhawks supporters everywhere:
Please forgive me in advance if I don’t remember to mention everyone I need to in this letter. It is meant for all of you!
I was hired by Dr. Brad Bartel November 2007 to start as athletic director for FLC on March 1, 2008. I would like to thank Brad for that opportunity and honor to serve this great community, the incredible student-athletes and their families, as well as some of the finest coaches I’ve ever seen and had the privilege to work with during my career. It really has been an incredible ride for me and FLC Athletics, and I will always hold a special place in my heart for my time here. Since then, I think Athletics can count something like 12 RMAC Championships, national championships in Men’s Soccer and Cycling, a runner up finish in WBB, and EVERY FLC team has qualified for post-season tournaments or championships except for LX, which was just started! This year FLC also finished the highest it ever has in the NACDA NCAA DII Directors Cup Trophy for the best all around DII Athletic Department in the NCAA! That is a true testament to the quality and excellence of the coaching and athletic staff here at FLC. We’ve also hosted numerous RMAC post-season events, and I believe six (6) NCAA Regional Championships, along with four nationally broadcast games for M Soccer and WBB. The student-athletes recruited have raised the bar in the classroom too. There has been a record number, literally hundreds of FLC SA’s since I’ve arrived, that have received all conference and All American awards, accolades and scholarships for their athletic skills, and most especially for their academic success. In the last 5 years FLC student-athletes have more than doubled graduate rates to 57%, which is 19% higher than the FLC general student body. These are all startling numbers! This past season alone the WBB team finished with a team GPA of 3.7 – amazing! Combined with the incredible amount of public service by our student-athletes and coaches and I am truly humbled and am proud to say I have loved every minute I’ve had the chance to serve these great people.
Some of my favorite memories will always include shoveling snow off of Dirks field with Lynne Andrew the night before, and then the people of Durango, the Hooligans, Martin Dirks himself, and especially my main man Luc Cisna the day of the game! It was a truly remarkable effort to host an NCAA Regional Soccer match with W Texas A & M against great odds, and we did it! The extraordinary effort by the Athletic staff and again the people of Durango when we hosted the NCAA WBB Regional’s the past two years. Getting to see the WBB team make that remarkable run to the 2010 Championship game – Coach Kellogg called it almost surreal, and he was right. MBB team and Coach Hofman finally reap their just rewards by making it to the 2011 MBB Regional Championship in Mankato, and then fighting the odds for a great run until the end. All those wonderful championship moments with Men’s Soccer in Tampa, FL – thank you Martin!! Watching this years Men’s Golf team make that improbable run to the finals in Muscle Shoals, AL this year brought me to tears. I can never thank the people involved enough that made all these accomplishments possible. But real joy came from helping those few really special student-athletes find their way through their own personal struggles in school and/or in their lives, and then watching them as they graduated. They know who they are and I want them to know their success means more to me than they could possibly imagine.
Special thanks also have to go to some remarkable people and friends here outside of the department that made my move here as AD easy, fun and a truly memorable experience. To my good friends Craig & Gillian Arnwine, Eric Jones, Thad Trujillo, Dr. Anthony Smagacz, and Elizabeth Berg, along with all the others I know I’m forgetting now, THANK YOU. You and your families will always have a special place in my heart. You know my door is always open for you whenever you need it!!
But it’s time to go and leave the reins to another. I wish all true Skyhawks nothing but the best! That goes double for the student-athletes, their families, coaches and good friends I may leave behind. I see a great future if you ALL keep the faith and strive for excellence in all things TOGETHER – magis. As the Dallas Mavericks just showed the world, a great TEAM can accomplish great things. So, I urge all Skyhawk supporters to stick together, and you will be the best you can be. I made a statement at my father’s funeral last year about him that I feel can use for me too with just a couple changes. “I love all true Skyhawks and Raiders – I may not like all of you, but I do love you!” Keep the faith and stay in touch. I’ll be in Durango for a little while longer, so don’t be a stranger!
Sincerely,
Dr. Kelly J Higgins
Director of Athletics
Fort Lewis College
Athletic Director's Blog · May 23, 2011
Skyhawk men's golf team at NCAA Championships
The Skyhawk men's golf team just returned from one of the most improbable runs into the Elite 8 of the NCAA Division II National Championships in Muscle Shoals, AL ever seen. While there, we met some really good people in the Florence/Muscle Shoals, AL area, and I know it helped change some old perceptions we all had that had been fed by the media and movies. In essence, I need to say the FLC Skyhawk men's golf team was incredible, making it through the first three rounds in 7th place of the 20 teams from across the country, and then losing an absolute dogfight with #2 ranked Abilene Christian to finish in a tie for 5th in the country in DII.
I could not have been more proud of them if they'd won it all. They did something never done before by an FLC or RMAC team in the history FLC or the RMAC. AND, for believing in themselves when most of the other teams in attendance did not. They played gutsy, team golf all week, depending on each other when they needed help each day, with every golfer contributing scores and points when it was desperately needed. Especially on day three with their backs against the wall with 9 holes to go after a tough front nine.
Coach Andersen's team went out and played the back nine one under par and secured their part in history, and etched a great memory for them that will last a lifetime. It was pretty impressive for the team from the school in the mountains of CO, especially since their home course was under a few inches of snow Wed/Thu, that they could compete with the best in the country, mostly teams from deep south and CA schools, and to do so with an all US team. Something the other seven teams in the quarterfinals CANNOT say.
They impressed a lot of people with their class, play and personalities before, during and after the tourney ended for them, including me! It was true team golf within this most individual of sports, and the only way we got this far after qualifying 3rd from the NCAA West/Central Super Regional in Albuquerque.
Our senior Keenan Holt, a local Durangoan who'd had a tough season, came up huge in round #2 when Gavin had an awful day, and then he did it again with a big win in the quarterfinal match up as I walked with him that day. Every golfer on the team counted with sophomore Charlie Laudermilk and senior Justin Spray counting two of their scores during the week. Mr. steady, senior Dave Schroeder, was the only golfer to count scores every day, our #1 golfer senior Gavin Lyons, brought me to tears behind the 18th green as our last golfer in, when despite playing two of his three rounds under par, he finally realized we'd come up just short on the 17th and 18th holes when we were within arms reach of a huge upset and the potential brass ring. He simply stood with his back to the other players, green and crowd for a minute staring out over the gorgeous view of the Tennessee River behind the 18th green before he turned around and knocked in his final putt for par in front of a pretty good sized crowd. You could tell what he was doing, which he confirmed later. He was thinking about what an incredible/improbable run this had been this week now that his college golf career was over, what a great place/view to end it with, and how he now moves into his new job in the investment industry with this stunning memory as a backdrop, wow - what a way to go! I was truly a remarkable moment and now memory. It shows how our student-athletes at FLC get it, like Gavin.
I did much the same at my last college FB and baseball games just before the last play. It's the moments like this that remind me why I love this job. Just writing this brings me to tears now. Go Skyhawks!!
Sincerely,
Dr. Kelly J Higgins
Director of Athletics
Fort Lewis College
