On Monday January 6, Rudy Yovich began his tenure as the Owens Athletics Director. This is the second time that Yovich has served in this post during his career.
With an athletic administration career that spans nearly 20 years, Rudy Yovich returns as the Director of Athletics at Owens Community College. Yovich was previously the Express' AD from 2011-2014. He was recently the Director of Athletics at NCAA Division-II Wheeling University.
At Wheeling, Yovich was instrumental in the institution of Football as an intercollegiate sport. He was the Tournament Director for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 NCAA Atlantic Regional Volleyball Tournament, as well as a member of the NCAA Regional Advisory Committees for Women's Lacrosse and Men's Soccer. During his tenure, Cardinal Student-Athletes won three National Championships, the Volleyball team reached the Elite 8 in 2018 as well as a National Runner-up finish for Wrestling that same year. Numerous student-athletes garnered All-American, All-Conference athletic and academic honors.
Prior to Wheeling University, Yovich was Director of Athletics at NCAA Division-III Defiance College. At Defiance, significant initiatives included the school's first departmental apparel deal with Nike and the development of a multi-million dollar athletic facility upgrade. Yellow Jacket student-athletes consistently delivered a departmental grade point average over 3.0.
Before being appointed to the AD position at Owens, Yovich was Assistant Athletic Director at NCAA Division-I IPFW (now Purdue Fort Wayne). At IPFW, Yovich had director sport oversight of the school's cross country and track programs and two spirit groups, along with leading the department's media relations program.
Yovich holds a bachelor's degree from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Sports Management from Columbia Southern University.