Margie Strait and Richard Hazelton Named ECAC Jostens Administrators of the Year

CAPE COD, Mass. - Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Commissioner Rudy Keeling announced today that Margie Strait, Director of Athletics at St. Lawrence University, and Richard Hazelton, Director of Athletics at Trinity College, have been selected as the recipients of the 2009 Jostens Administrators of the Year Award. 

The ECAC Jostens Male and Female Administrators of the Year awards are presented annually to administrators from ECAC member schools or conferences in recognition of outstanding or meritorious service to the ECAC. They will receive their awards on Tuesday, October 6, at the ECAC Honors Luncheon presented by Jostens. The luncheon will be held at The Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis, Massachusetts during the 2009 ECAC Fall Convention and Trade Show.

Strait has been a member of the Saint athletic program since 1970, and is entering her 12th year as director of athletics and chair of the department of intercollegiate athletics and recreation. She was a highly successful tennis coach, and also coached skiing. Strait has served as a member of the executive committee of the ECAC men's and women's hockey league, the ECAC Board of Directors, and also as the president of the Liberty League.

Since taking the directorship, she has coordinated the addition of seven new athletic teams to the Saint NCAA Division III athletic program and has been involved in all phases of an extensive renovation of the University's athletic facilities. Among the new facilities which have been constructed during her tenure as athletic director are the Newell Field House and Stafford Fitness Center, St. Lawrence University Boathouse for men's and women's crew, North Country Field for field hockey and lacrosse, the Merrick-Pinkard Track complex which was host for the 2003 NCAA Division III Championships, and new fields for baseball, soccer and softball. She also oversaw the extensive renovation of Weeks Field and the construction of Leckonby Stadium for football in conjunction with the Merrick-Pinkard project and a renovation of the Burkman Gymnasium for basketball and volleyball. St. Lawrence's athletic facilities were ranked 20^th in the nation among all colleges and universities in the 2008 Princeton Review.

St. Lawrence has been among the top teams in the region in the Learfield Sports Director's Cup competition during her directorship and ranked 19th in 2008-09 with 12 Saint teams placing in NCAA championship competition.

She spent 17 seasons as women's tennis coach and eight as men's tennis coach and was the 1994 New York State Coach of the Year. She led her women's teams to three conference championships and two state titles and rebuilt the men's program to a conference champion. She also coached skiing during her tenure and was recognized for her contributions to the sport by the Eastern Intercollegiate Ski Association in 2004.

A graduate of Cortland State College with a master's degree from St. Lawrence, Strait was inducted into the Cortland State College Hall of Fame in 2003. Strait and her husband, Russ, are the parents of two children: a son, Hawley, a graduate of Bates College now an attorney, and a daughter, Wendy, a graduate of Connecticut College.

Since 1982, Hazelton has taken strides toward creating a winning environment at Trinity College. In 2009, the Trinity men's squash team has captured its 11th consecutive national title with an 19-0 record and extended the nation's longest winning streak in any collegiate sport to 202 triumphs in a row. In 2008, the baseball team enjoyed a historic ride to the program's first NCAA national title, breaking numerous records with 44 wins to start the year and a 45-1 final mark. On the national stage, Trinity's student-athletes have risen to the challenge time and time again. In addition to the 11 consecutive men's squash national titles and the 2008 baseball crown, the Bantams have won two women's squash national titles, two women's varsity eight rowing national crowns, and 11 individual national championships. 

In Hazelton's tenure, the College has constructed an eight-lane, 37-meter swimming pool, 16-seat rowing tanks, a vastly improved fitness room, the nation's top squash facility, two synthetic turf fields, a rowing boathouse, and numerous improvements to the playing fields and facilities.  The College's newest facility, the Koeppel Community Sports Center and Williams Rink, opened in 2006 to give the Bantam ice hockey teams their first on-campus home ice.

Hazelton earned his bachelor's degree from Marietta College in 1966 and received his master's degree in sports administration from the University of Massachusetts in 1976.  Hazelton taught history and was an assistant football coach at Lancaster High School in Ohio from 1969-73 before becoming the head freshman football coach at Amherst College in 1973.

In 1974, Hazelton came to Trinity when he was named an assistant professor of physical education, head track and field coach, and assistant football coach.  For eight seasons, Hazelton worked under former head football coach Don Miller, helping Trinity record six winning campaigns and a 42-21-1 record, a .664 winning percentage.

In January 1982, Hazelton assumed the duties of the acting associate athletic director when Karl Kurth took a sabbatical leave.  Kurth subsequently retired, and Hazelton was named Trinity's director of athletics.  In 1989, Hazelton was promoted to professor of physical education.

During his tenure, Hazelton has been extremely active on various committees throughout the region and the nation.  Previously the chairman of the ECAC North/South Hockey Tournament (1987-91) and a member of the ECAC Finance Committee (1993-96), Hazelton has also served on the NCAA Voting Committee (1987-90), the NCAA Football Rules Committee (1996-00), the NCAA Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports Commitee (1998-00), and NCAA Committee on Committees (1990-93).  In additon, Hazelton was the chairman of the NESCAC selection committee for Division III Male Athlete of the Year from 1988-92 (member 1985-93), chairman of the ECAC Division III lacrosse tournament in 1990 and 1996-98, and a member of both the ECAC East-West Hockey Tournament Committee from 1996-99 and the ECAC Ice Hockey Executive Committee (1990-98).  Hazelton has been chairman of the ECAC Collegiate Rowing Championship Regatta Board of Stewards (member since 1995) and was a member of both the ECAC Football Executive Committee and the ECAC Marketing Committee. From 1982-1999, Hazelton served as the treasurer for the New England Small College Athletic Conference, and was president in 1990-91 and 2005-06.  In 2002, Hazelton was awarded the General Robert Neyland Athletic Director Award by the All-American Football Foundation.

Hazelton is a second degree black belt in Taekwondo, and has taught it at Trinity for 12 years. Hazelton and his wife, Anne, reside in nearby Windsor and have three sons, all of whom have studied at Trinity and played varsity lacrosse: Tad '92, who also played football, James '93, and Alex '99.

About Jostens
Jostens was founded in 1897, and has since become a leader in providing products, programs, and services that help people celebrate important moments, recognize achievements, and build affiliations. Based in Minneapolis, Jostens produces yearbooks, class rings, graduation products, school photography, and products for athletic champions and their fans.

About the ECAC^®
The ECAC is the nation's largest athletic and the only multi-divisional conference in the country with more than 300 Divisions I, II, and III colleges and universities. The ECAC stretches from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors nearly 100 championships in 37 men's and women's sports and assigns more than 4,400 officials in 12 sports.  The ECAC also administers eight affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues, and through the public relations arm of the conference, more than 2,500 student-athletes in 23 sports are recognized annually. Finally, the ECAC serves as the primary conference for select members in the sports of men's and women's ice hockey and men's lacrosse.