Commissioner Kelly Anderson Diercks announced Monday the hiring of KatieJo Svenson as the conferences' next assistant commissioner/SID. Svenson succeeds Joshua Larson, who served as assistant commissioner/SID of the MLC and MWLC since the 2014 season.
"KatieJo is going to be an outstanding addition to the MLC-MWLC staff. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position and will do a phenomenal job promoting our student-athletes and member institutions," stated Anderson Diercks.
Svenson currently serves as sports information coordinator at Bethany Lutheran College. In her position, she oversees the media relations and statistics for 17 varsity teams.
"I want to thank Commissioner Anderson Diercks and the search committee for the opportunity to become the Assistant Commissioner/Conference SID for the Midwest Lacrosse Conference and Midwest Women's Lacrosse Conference" said Svenson.
Prior to Bethany, Svenson spent the previous eight years as sports information director at Wartburg College, where she oversaw the sports information efforts for 25 teams, including the addition of the women's lacrosse program in 2015. During her tenure at Wartburg, she covered 10 NCAA championships, a multitude of All-Americans and conference champions, and 26 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. She was also a co-creator and executive producer of Wartburg's livestreaming service, Knight Vision.
"I am excited for this new challenge in my career and look forward to promoting the talents of the students-athletes in this league" noted Svenson. "I want to thank my Athletic Director, Don Westphal, for supporting me in this endeavor while continuing my position at Bethany Lutheran."
Svenson was named the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) College Division Rising Star Award winner in April 2013 and was one of 10 American Volleyball Coaches Association Grant Burger Regional SID honorees in 2015. Svenson is an active member of CoSIDA where she serves on the Board of Directors (2017-21).
Svenson also worked for three years as sports information director at Maryville-St. Louis and was an Athletic Communications intern for one year at UW-Madison. Svenson earned her degree from Wartburg in 2007 and currently resides in Mankato, Minn. with her husband Darin.
MLC members for the upcoming 2021 season include Beloit College, Cornell College, Monmouth College, Northland College, North Central University and University of Northwestern, while MWLC members include Augsburg University, Beloit College, Cornell College, Hamline University, Loras College, Monmouth College, University of Northwestern and Wartburg College. Lake Forest College will join both leagues in the 2022 season.
Both NCAA Division III member conferences, the MLC began play in 2010 while the MWLC started play in 2011.