July 16, 2010

CLEVELAND – The 2010-11 Jim Host Intern class of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) began its year-long internship on July 13. In November 2009, the NACDA Internship Program became known at the Jim Host Internship Program presented by iHigh.com.  

The 2010-11 class includes Mike Eller, a John Carroll University graduate; Kimberly Spino, a UCLA graduate; Alex Tiseo, a Michigan Technical University graduate; and Sarah Wilcox, a graduate of The Ohio State University.

Eller, a native of Bay Village, Ohio, has worked with NACDA over the course of the last two years during his summer and holiday breaks, and has signed on for the year-long internship beginning this summer. Eller graduated in 2010 from John Carroll University with a degree in finance. While at John Carroll, Eller was a member of Sigma Phil Epsilon Fraternity where he served as the Vice President of Recruitment (2009-2010) and Service Chair (2008-2009) as well as Phi Eta Sigma and Order of the Omega Greek Honors Fraternity. Eller has also been a ball boy with the Cleveland Cavaliers since 2004. While at NACDA, Eller will work with ICLA, CEFMA, Division-I AAA ADA, Membership and the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the National Football Foundation’s Annual Awards Banquet. He can be reached at meller@nacda.com.  

Spino graduated from UCLA in 2006 with a degree in history and took business courses at the UCLA Extension program through 2007. Since then, Spino has worked for adidas America as a Licensed Property Manager Assistant where she managed a $3 million annual marketing contract with Licensed Property Manager. Her duties included organizing and participating in Focus Groups with adidas marketing and design teams from Oregon and Germany corporate offices. Spino was also an Assistant Gatorade Manager for Gatorade & Paragon Marketing through UCLA, promoting the product at summer sports camps. As an undergraduate at UCLA, Spino was a student manager for the women’s track and field team, a board member on the John R. Wooden Center Board of Governors and a member of a national sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi, where she served as senior chair and vice president of operations. While at NACDA, Spino will be working with NACMA, CABMA, NATYCAA and the Under Armour Athletics Director of the Year program. She plans to obtain a master’s degree in sports administration following her term at NACDA, as well as pursue a career in marketing at the professional and collegiate levels. She can be reached at kspino@nacda.com.

Tiseo graduated from Michigan Technical University in 2008 with a degree in Business Administration, and recently completed his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at Baldwin-Wallace College in May 2010. At Baldwin-Wallace, Tiseo worked as the CHAMPS/Life Skills Graduate Assistant where he planned events to help provide student-athletes with skills in the areas of athletics, academics, career development, personal development and service and also served as the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Advisor. During his time at Baldwin-Wallace, Tiseo served as a Division III Leadership Conference Facilitator for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), as well as a National Student Leadership Conference Facilitator at the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) National Leadership Conference. In his time at Michigan Tech, Tiseo was not only a three-year starter on the Huskie football team, but was also an athletics department intern and chair of the Michigan Tech SAAC. Additionally, Tiseo served as the chair of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (GLIAC) SAAC and NCAA Division II National SAAC from 2007-2009. During his tenure as chair of the NCAA Division II National SAAC Tiseo also was a member of the NCAA Division II Legislative and Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committees. Tiseo will be working with NAADD, the Division II ADA and the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup. He can be reached at atiseo@nacda.com.  

Wilcox graduated from The Ohio State University in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in sports psychology and journalism. While at Ohio State, Wilcox worked for four quarters at Buckeye TV (Ohio State’s student broadcasting station), where she was a sports department analyst and host, while also gaining experience on the production/camera side of producing. Wilcox played one year of varsity lacrosse at Ohio State and coached high school JV women’s lacrosse in nearby Dublin for two years. Wilcox also volunteered for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Columbus during her time at Ohio State, and also participated in the Ohio State Relay for Life and Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign. While at NACDA, Wilcox will be working with NAAC, MOAA, FCS ADA, Sponsorship Administration, the McLendon Foundation and the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the National Football Foundation's Annual Awards Banquet. She can be reached at swilcox@nacda.com.

Host founded Host Communications in 1972 and turned into the sports world’s best-known marketing businesses. In 2008, IMG acquired Host Communications along with the Collegiate Licensing Company (CLC) to form IMG College, the premier college marketing, licensing and media company. NACDA’s Athletics Administration, which was published by Host for many years, is now published by IMG College.

About NACDA: NACDA, now in its 46th year, is the professional and educational association for more than 6,500 college athletics administrators at more than 1,600 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. More than 2,200 athletics administrators annually attend the NACDA Convention. Additionally, NACDA administers 11 professional associations for the separate business units that report directly to the athletics directors. For more information on NACDA, visit www.nacda.com.