Jim Herlihy began his term as St. A’s Athletic Director this past May after spending over two decades in athletic administration at institutions around the country.

His résumé includes a seven-year stint as Director of Athletics at the University of Montevallo in Alabama, and a three-year term as Assistant Athletic Director at Florida Golf Coast University. He also held positions in both the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies baseball organizations.

Jim’s main goal as Athletic Director is to “provide the best experience possible for student athletes.” He also hopes that athletics will “enhance the educational experiences of the athletes at St. A’s and that sports will ultimately be viewed in the same light as academics.”

Jim also hopes to bring more consistency to Hawks athletics after all of the change over in personnel over the last few years.

“There have been several different Athletic Directors over the last five years. I want to bring more stability to the program and ensure that the coaches, athletes, and fans know what is happening.”

In regards to rumors of the Hawks potentially switching from Division Two to Division Three, Jim said, “There are no plans for any divisional changes. Right now our focus is on doing the best we can within the Northeast-10 and ECAC conferences.”

While there are not any set plans yet, Jim did say that he would like to see St. A’s add a track and field program and he could even see rugby potentially making the jump up to varsity from club a few years down the road.

There are a lot of factors that go into adding a varsity team. Two of the major keys are funding, and finding other schools in the area that either already are members of a conference or want to join one. Jim emphasized the importance of putting any potential new teams in a position to succeed, so no moves will be made until the right situation presents itself.

The St. A’s Athletic Director has also been very impressed with the way our fall sports teams have performed.

“Many of our fall sports teams have out performed expectations thus far. Consistently playing at a high level will allow our teams to build off of momentum and compete for conference titles.”

When asked how Jim likes his new job so far he said “this is a fantastic place, with a very friendly atmosphere. I am looking forward to continuing to work with the great coaches and athletes here at St. A’s.”