Zigars Named Assistant Media Relations Director
Pocatello, ID --- It took awhile, but Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Frank Mercogliano has announced that Katie Zigars has been named Assistant Media Relations Director, replacing Jason Erickson, who departed for the Western Athletic Conference offices in September.
Zigars played tennis at Idaho State from 2003-07, starting out as a walkon from Eagle High School in Meridian, Idaho. Zigars eventually earned a scholarship and played #4 singles for the Bengals as a senior. She was a four-year All-Big Sky Academic selection, and she was awarded the Bengal Athletics Advisory Board Scholar-Athlete Award as a senior, graduating with a 3.92 grade point average.
While Katie is a new hire, she is no stranger to the media relations office at Idaho State. She spent the past year handling the communications efforts for ISU's track and cross country programs, as well as tennis and golf while serving as a graduate assistant. She will switch most of her responsibilities, handling women's basketball, soccer, volleyball, and tennis, and assisting with softball and other duties. She will also oversee the new graduate assistant and any other interns for the department. Prior to her G.A. appointment, she served two internships for credit, and she helped in the office on a volunteer basis.
"While I've been impressed with Katie's abilities and work ethic as a graduate assistant and even as an intern, she really impressed the search committee, and she was very well prepared." said Mercogliano. "She has a great rapport with the media and our coaches, and as an ex-ISU athlete, I think she can really understand and relate to what student-athletes go through. I think she's going to do great things."
"The thing that really says a lot about Katie is her graduate assistantship ended in early May, but she comes in on her own despite not getting paid to handle all of the postseason track details. I think that speaks volumes about how she goes about things," Mercogliano added.
While Zigars is replacing Jason Erickson, Dylan Barfuss handled the media relations for ISU volleyball and women's basketball this past season as a part-time media relations assistant. "I'm really appreciative of Dylan stepping in and helping us get from September to May," said Mercogliano.
A native of Meridian, she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A in Mass Communications in 2007, and she is currently working on a Master's in Athletic Administration at Idaho State.