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Now in his fourth full year at Lake Erie College, Gilbert "Griz" Zimmermann was officially welcomed as director of athletics in May 2007. When he took over the Storm Department of Athletics, it featured 10 NCAA Division III varsity teams. Lake Erie currently offers 23 varsity teams during the 2010-11 academic year, competing at the NCAA Division II level. Zimmermann has been instrumental in leading the department through reclassification to Division II status and into membership in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and East Coast Conference (ECC). With over 25 years of athletic experience, Zimmermann has performed every task from designing and implementing workout programs to leading compliance of NCAA rules. Before coming to Lake Erie, he served as the A.D. at Gannon University from 2003-2005. Prior to working at Gannon, he served as the director of athletics at Saginaw Valley State University from 2000-03 and was the assistant A.D. at Southern Methodist University from 1993-2000. He was the Baylor Fitness Center director in Dallas, Texas, for two years, in addition to working as the strength and conditioning coach at Southern Methodist for three years. Zimmermann's first priority for Storm athletics is the welfare of student-athletes, both for the immediate as well as the long term. He utilizes his experience in coordinating fundraising events and drawing alumni support to increase awareness for Storm athletics. Zimmermann is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has a bachelor of science degree in physical education and a master of science degree in exercise physiology. While at Michigan, he served as the strength and conditioning coach for the Wolverines' 1989 men's basketball national championship team. The St. Louis, Mo., native served in the United States Navy and has four children, Sydney (17), Matthew (15), Harper (11) and Paden (9). |
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