UIS hires Deterding as new AD

The University of Illinois Springfield announced on Monday it had selected Peyton Deterding as its new director of athletics.

Deterding, who will begin the job on Dec. 9, replaces Jim Sarra, who resigned in July. He comes to Springfield after spending 12 years at Illinois State University in Normal; he’s presently the school’s senior associated athletic director.

Deterding, 44, was chosen out of more than 50 candidates, UIS said in a press release on Monday.

On Monday evening, Deterding said he had two big factors that drew him to this job. “I think the first one is the support from chancellor (Susan) Koch,” Deterding said. “She’s a big a supporter of athletics — that makes the director of athletics job a little bit easier. “And then the opportunity for growth at UIS in terms of a campus perspective and also an athletics’ perspective. There’s a great foundation in place; you’re seeing with some of the early results in terms of the basketball seasons. We just had two compete in the D-II cross country national championships out in California (UIS’ first cross country All-American, Taryn Christy as well as Blake Jones). There’s some exciting things happening at UIS and we hope to continue to build and gain some positive momentum.”

UIS is an NCAA Division II school in the Great Lakes Valley Conference with 17 sports and Deterding said more may be added in the future. “I think at all levels of athletics, you’re really looking at opportunities to bring students to campus and one of the avenues that colleges and universities are looking at is athletic departments and how they can play a role to add into the enrollment,”

This article appeared in The State Journal-Register on November 25, 2019.

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Women's Basketball: Ladowski, others lead UIS to road win

Lauren Ladowski scored eight of her game-high 17 points in the fourth period and the University of Illinois Springfield broke open a tight game to record a 68-59 win over Purdue Northwest on Saturday at H.D. Kesling Gymnasium.

UIS trailed 50-47 after Purdue Northwest made a 3-pointer to start the final period. The Prairie Stars then went on a 9-0 run when Katelyn Rosner converted a 3-point play and the team made six free throws to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on November 24, 2019. 

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Cross Country: Jones, Christy make UIS cross country history; Christy becomes NCAA D-II All-American

The University of Illinois Springfield cross country program has come far since its humble beginnings in 2015.

Sophomores Blake Jones and Tayrn Christy will appear as the first UIS runners ever in Saturday’s NCAA Division II Cross Country National Championship Meet at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course in Sacramento, California.

Jones, a Lincoln High School graduate, earned the men’s at-large bid after taking eighth place in the Midwest Region meet at 31:42.3 while Christy, of Geneva, clinched the women’s automatic berth by finishing fifth in 21:09.9. Both were school records.

“They’re extremely hard workers,” Coach Tyler Pence said of Jones and Christy. “They do all of the little things right. It’s not surprising that they’re qualifiers at this meet. They’ve got the total package.”

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on November 24, 2019.

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