Athletic director leaving BG for Xavier

Christopher has been with Falcons since ’06

3/26/2013

CINCINNATI — Xavier University announced Monday that Greg Christopher will become the school’s athletic director.

Christopher, who holds that position at Bowling Green State University, will be introduced formally at a news conference today. He replaces Mike Bobinski, who accepted the AD position at Georgia Tech in January.

“BGSU is a special place,” Christopher said in a release. “I am grateful for the opportunity that I’ve had to serve our university and student-athletes. While I am excited about the move to Xavier, I will miss an incredible group of people that made going to work something I looked forward to each day.

“BGSU’s coaches, staff, and student-athletes embody the true spirit of college athletics. I look forward to following the Falcons in the future.”

Christopher’s last day with BGSU will be May 2. Mary Ellen Mazey, BGSU president, said she will name an interim AD within two weeks as well as a search committee to find the next director in a similar time period.

Christopher, who became the school’s 12th athletics director in July, 2006, oversaw the Falcons’ 18-sport program, with a budget of $21 million and more than 100 staff members.

The Falcons have won 11 Mid-American Conference championships during Christopher’s tenure, and the women’s basketball team became the first program in MAC history to advance to the NCAA’s Sweet 16.

The BGSU football team has played in three bowl games, most recently the 2012 Military Bowl in Washington during that stretch.

Bowling Green also added $60 million in new or renovated athletics facilities during his stint.

That list includes the Sebo Athletic Center, the addition to the north side of Doyt Perry Stadium with state-of-the-art training and sports medicine facilities, as well administrative offices; the new Keefe Tennis Complex; a renovation to the BGSU Ice Arena; improvements at baseball’s Steller Field and Whittaker Track; the FieldTurf inside Perry Stadium and the new $36 million Stroh Center for basketball and volleyball.

Christopher is chairman of the MAC’s Athletic Directors’ Council and women’s basketball administrative chairman for the MAC. Nationally, he is a member of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions and just completed a four-year term on the NCAA’s Division I Women’s Basketball Committee, serving as chairman of the committee in 2011-12.

“Greg Christopher has had a major leadership role in the university and in building a strong reputation for BGSU in the MAC and nationally,” Mazey said in a prepared statement. “We will miss him greatly but know that he will have an outstanding future at Xavier.”

IMHOLZ HONORED: Bowling Green’s Paris Imholz was named MAC softball pitcher of the week.

The sophomore from Antioch, Calif., recorded two wins over the weekend against Wright State, pushing the Falcons’ win streak to four games. Imholz held the Raiders scoreless in two appearances over a two-game span, striking out five and carrying a 0.00 ERA over 8.0 innings.