CENTRAL — Head Volleyball Coach and Senior Woman Administrator Julia Reininga has been promoted to Associate Athletics Director at Southern Wesleyan University.
Reininga’s new responsibilities will include running the day-to-day operations of the department and overseeing the female sport coaches, Director of Athletics Chris Williams said in making the announcement. She will continue to serve as the advisor of the Student-Advisory Committee.
“This is a special opportunity to recognize the great work of Julia as our volleyball coach and as the SWA,” said Williams. “Julia has played a critical role in the overall advancement of our department, and I’m very grateful for the contributions she has made. Julia will play a critical role within the department as we look to improve our day to day operations for our student-athletes, coaches and our fans.”
Reininga is entering her fifth season as the volleyball coach and has posted a 98-47 overall record and a 47-13 mark in Conference Carolinas and Southern States Athletic Conference play in her first four seasons.
“I am so thankful to serve the university and athletes in this way,” said Reininga. “To work with the leadership and coaches at Southern Wesleyan University is truly a blessing. To see the growth that has occurred at Southern Wesleyan University has been amazing. I am excited for the future of SWU and thrilled to be a part of it.”
SWU adds assistant cross country, track coach
Southern Wesleyan has hired Jake Simms as an assistant cross country and track & field coach. Simms comes to Southern Wesleyan from North Greenville University where he served as the head track & field coach and assistant cross country coach for two years.
“We are so excited and blessed to have Jake join our team and cannot wait to see how God uses him to impact our athletes,” said Warriors Head Coach Greg Thiel.
Simms competed at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and at North Greenville where he graduated in 2013. He helped UT-Chattanooga win a Southern Conference Championship and was named All-Conference eight times at North Greenville. He also holds the 800 meters record at North Greenville and is a member of the school record teams for the distance medley, 4×400, and 4×800 relay teams.
“I am excited to have Jake join our team,” said Director of Athletics Chris Williams. “His skill set will continue to enhance the growth we have seen in our cross country and track & field programs. Jake’s expertise will be seen with our cross country programs and with our distance runners on the track team. We anticipate more growth in our cross country teams because of his arrival.”
Simms will run the day-to-day operations of the men’s and women’s cross country teams and will work specifically with the distance runners on the track team.
A native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., Simms is married to Whitney Simms and the couple has one son, Cooper.