Aug. 7, 2008

OXFORD, Ohio - Dr. Richard Ceronie has been named as Miami University athletics' Director of Sports Camps, it was announced today by Brad Bates, Director of Athletics.

Ceronie has served for the past 24 years as Miami's head coach for women's track and field and women's cross country.

Bates says that Ceronie is a perfect fit for his new assignment.

"Rich Ceronie has served Miami University students for years and we are very excited that he will now continue that commitment as an administrator in ways that will transcend all our programs," Bates said. Applying Rich's depth of experience, intellect and organizational skills to an area we believe has extraordinary potential for not only our department but for the university and Oxford community is extremely exciting, and we are looking forward to working with him in striving toward his inspiring vision."

Ceronie's new role will be to coordinate all aspects of Miami's sports camps operation, building the program, and recruiting and introducing young athletes to the university. Ceronie also will perform a variety of other administrative duties.

"Miami's athletic department wanted one person coordinating our sports camps operation," said Ceronie. "The goal is to increase the image, attendance and income of Miami athletic camps, and to get everyone working together for our mutual benefit. I will assist coaches with administrative issues so that they can focus more of their time on teaching and coaching in the camp. Doing this will directly benefit the campers as they can learn from some of the best coaches around. We want to grow and add new programs so that our athletic department can reap those benefits."

Ceronie also said that his new position could assist Miami's coaching staff in its recruiting efforts.

"As we all know, once a student comes to this campus, it's a tremendous draw," he said. "So, other than the financial implications of trying to make sure we're maximizing all of our resources, we also very aware of the importance of getting quality people on this campus and making recruiting easier for our coaches."

During his coaching career at Miami, Ceronie helped produce numerous team and individual accolades, including 61 Mid-American Conference Champions, 12 All-Americans and three Olympic trial qualifiers. He coached Miami to its first MAC track and field title in 1986 and was named the NCAA Great lakes Coach of the Year and MAC Coach of the Year in 2003.

Prior to Miami, Ceronie spend two years as assistant men's track and field coach and strength coach at Cincinnati (1982-84). In 1979, he was appointed to the faculty at Geneseo State University (N.Y.), where he took over the men's track and field program and established the women's cross country and track program.

As a runner at Brockport State University (N.Y.), Ceronie earned two bachelor's degrees in health education (1974) and elementary education (1975), and a graduate degree in elementary education from Geneseo State (1982). At Miami University, he earned a master's in sports administration (1989) and a Ph.D. in educational leadership (1993).

Ceronie resides in Oxford with his wife, Karen, and their daughters, Katelin and Lauren.

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