Everett Community College hires Studer as athletic director

Published 1:30 am Friday, June 30, 2017

Garet Studer has spent the past two years working as the director of operations for the Northwest Athletic Conference, but his goal was to eventually work as an athletic director at an NWAC school.

At the same time, he knew there were few schools that he would’ve left his NWAC job for. In his mind, Everett Community College was one of those schools.

That’s why Studer was thrilled to be named EvCC’s new athletic director Wednesday.

He replaces longtime athletic director Larry Walker, who retired in November. Studer starts his new job July 31, one day before the start of fall sports practices.

“Everything I know about EvCC gives me confidence in the future of its athletic programs,” Studer said. “There’s so many solid programs there, and so much potential to build something great.”

Studer played basketball at Clark College from 2004-06, then moved on to Washington State University, where he obtained degrees in sports management and higher education administration. He then returned to Clark, where he was an instructor, director of intramurals, fitness center manager and assistant coach for the Penguins’ mens basketball team before accepting his current position in 2015.

“He has ideas of what to do to take (our athletic department) to the next level,” said Jennifer Rhodes, EvCC’s associate dean of student life and athletics. “That, along with his experience, connections within the conference and educational background made him a good fit for us.”

“Garet’s work ethic and energy are two strengths that stand out,” NWAC executive director Marco Azurdia said. “He is a relentless worker with high standards and expectations, and is extremely passionate about providing excellent student-athlete experiences. Above this, he first and foremost is a person of integrity.”

Studer was attracted to the EvCC job because he enjoyed his time on campus during the past two years at the NWAC basketball tournaments, which were held at the Walt Price Student Fitness Center.

“I fell in love with the campus. The facilities are beautiful,” he said. “I like the fact that there’s high expectations there. There’s great coaches in place. The infrastructure (to succeed) is in place. The campus supports athletics and values what athletics can give to an institution. I don’t know if that (support) is present on all community-college campuses. That was the main attraction.”

One of the main objectives Studer wants to accomplish in his new role is to increase awareness of the EvCC athletic programs and “build the Trojans brand.” He mentioned three possibilities to help in that regard — creating an athletic department website; making athletes available for community service events; and inviting middle-school and youth teams to Trojans games.

“The student-athletes at Everett do a fantastic job in terms of being solid citizens and and going to school and graduating in addition to competing athletically, and I want to make that known,” he said. “When community members think about Everett sports, I want them to first think about Trojans athletics.”