HCC’S STANGE NAMED NACDA UNDER ARMOUR JUCO AD OF THE YEAR
Athletics | 06.13.13
The body of work of Hutchinson Community College Director of Athletics Randy Stange is being recognized this weekend in Orlando, Fla.
Stange is one of 28 athletic directors from all levels of intercollegiate athletics to be named National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics’ Under Armour Athletic Directors of the Year.
Stange and the 27 other athletic directors will receive their awards during the James J. Corbett Awards Luncheon on Saturday at NACDA's 48th Annual Convention at the World Center Marriott Resort in Orlando, Florida. Stange is one of four junior college ADs who will be honored.
Only the fourth athletic director in Blue Dragon athletic department’s storied history that goes back to 1928, Stange’s 16th year at the helm may have been one of his most successful at Hutchinson.
Blue Dragon teams captured four Region VI championships, four Jayhawk West championships, a football postseason bowl victory, the women’s basketball team finishing third in the NJCAA Tournament and the men’s outdoor track and field team placing fourth at the outdoor national championships at Gowans Stadium. In addition to that, three different HCC teams – men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s soccer – were ranked No. 1 in the national polls at some point during their seasons.
In the classroom, 18 Blue Dragon student-athletes were named NJCAA Academic All-American this past season.
Earlier this year, Stange received an NJCAA Service Award.
Stange was named the Blue Dragons’ athletic director on July 1, 1997. He has been intertwined with Blue Dragon athletics since the early 1980s.
Before his current role as the leader of the HCC athletic department, Stange was the head coach for the Blue Dragon men’s basketball team from 1994 to 1997, winning 88 games and the 1997 Region VI championship. He played for Gary Bargen from 1981-83.
During his 16 years as athletic director, Blue Dragon teams have achieved the following:
+ Football has won five-straight postseason bowl games, including four-consecutive Salt City Bowls.
+ Volleyball has won six Region VI championships, five Jayhawk West championships and finished as high as five in the NJCAA Tournament.
+ Women’s basketball has three-straight Jayhawk West titles, three Region VI championships, a national runner-up finish in 2012 and a national third-place finish in 2013.
+ Men’s basketball won the 2013 Region VI championship and has a conference championship under its belt. The Blue Dragons have also moved into No. 2 on the NJCAA’s all-win wins list.
+ Men’s golf has won six Region VI and six Jayhawk Conference crowns and has placed as high as sixth in the national tournament.
+ Baseball has won six Jayhawk West championships, two Region VI titles and finished third in the 2010 NJCAA World Series.
+ Started in 2005, the women’s soccer team has three Region VI championships and three Jayhawk Conference championships to its credit.
+ The women’s cross country team won the 2001 Division II national championship and had a third-place finish in 1999.
+ The men’s track team has won three-straight outdoor and one indoor Jayhawk West titles in addition to Region VI outdoor crowns in 2012 and 2013 and a fourth-place national finish in 2013.
+ HCC has averaged 14 NJCAA Academic All-American student athletes per season since 1997.
In addition to his duties at HCC, Stange also serves as the Region VI men’s director, a position he has held since 2008. He is the chair of the Division I men’s basketball tournament and has served on the track and field and men’s golf committees. Now Stange is a member of the NJCAA Executive Committee. The leader of the Blue Dragons has also been championship director of the 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
Stange played a major role in the renovation of Gowans Stadium and the awarding of the national outdoor track championships to HCC, which will again play host to the outdoor championships in 2015. Stange also oversaw the work to build the Blue Dragon Cross Country Team’s new home course, the Westar Energy/Prairie Ridge Park.
All NACDA-member directors of athletics in the United States, Canada and Mexico who met the criteria were eligible for the award. Among the criteria were service as an AD for a minimum of five academic years; demonstration of commitment to higher education and student-athletes; continuous teamwork, loyalty and excellence; and the ability to inspire individuals or groups to high levels of accomplishments.
Additionally, each AD's institution must have passed a compliance check through its appropriate governing body in which the institution could not have been on probation or cited for a lack of institutional control within the last five years during the tenure of the current athletics director.
Nominators were NACDA-member directors of athletics, institutional presidents and conference commissioners. Special Selection Committees composed of current and former directors of athletics, present and past NCAA and NAIA presidents, current and former commissioners and other key athletics administrators voted on nominees for the award.
(HCC Sports Information)
