After an unsuccessful search last semester, a new era began in the Athletics department last month when Kinesiology Chair Susan Armenta was appointed interim director of athletics.
The decision came in December when Pierce College President Alexis Montevirgen met with several faculty members of the Kinesiology department.
Armenta started her tenure in January and said she is grateful for the opportunity.
“It is very humbling for me to be here. They have been very welcoming when I started on my first day and what I want to accomplish is establishing a connection with everyone in the department,” Armenta said.
She had a great conversation with the president prior to her getting appointed on Friday, Dec. 20.
Montevirgen has been impressed with the job Armenta has done.
“She has already brought a sense of organization,” Montevirgen said. “Since I came here, there has been a sense of transition and it is good to have some sustainability. As we engage in the search, I have told Susan that I hope this interests her and she looks to apply for the job permanently.”
Armenta said she doesn’t have a certain style of running things.
“I’m pretty straight forward. I like to get things done. One of the things I do is establish a goal or a deadline when I want to get something done,” Armenta said.
Armenta wants to address is the attendance for sporting events.
She has sent emails to the faculty, posted flyers across campus and wants to reach out to the community.
She will not be teaching any health classes this semester as she solely wants to focus on her new role.
“This job is a full-time position so I don’t want to overload myself. I want to focus on making an impact in the months I am here,” Armenta said.
Armenta also wants to make sure the needs of all student athletes are on track for graduation.
Armenta was an athlete herself. She participated in several sports one of them being cross country.
In addition to being involved with athletics, she also played the role of a racewalker on the hit show Malcolm in the Middle.
Armenta said the show reached out cause they were doing an episode of racewalking.
“It was a fun show to be apart of. Funny thing is when I do fun facts with my students I share with them that I was on it. The show wanted us to exaggerate the moves, but racewalking is already that if you see the events,” Armenta said.
The biggest honor for her was when she represented the United States at the Pan American Cup.
Even though she came short in qualifying for the Olympics, she said to represent her country was a privilege.
“I was born here and even though I came short in qualifying for the big event to have that exposure and competition against the best was special,” Armenta said.
She recommends any athlete or coach to participate in major competitions for their respective sport.
Armenta has a busy couple of months ahead of her. She will be an integral part as it relates to the future of women’s basketball and the resolution of the football investigation.
Armenta said she was surprised when she first heard the news regarding the program.
“I felt bad for the players that had to go through that,” Armenta said. “I know this is an ongoing investigation. We’ll see what the resolution is. I just want to move forward and see what we can do to improve all of our programs.”
She already had to decide on cutting on the tennis program the Thursday prior to their season opener on Feb. 4.
Armenta said it wasn’t easy, but due to the facilities and lack of players, she had to pull the plug.
Dean of Athletics and former interim AD Genice Sarcedo-Magruder said that Armenta stepped in and is doing well after a month.
“She has been doing great. [She] jumped right in and has done phenomenal working with our students and the coaches,” Sarcedo-Magruder said.
Armenta said she wants to be remembered as someone who was outgoing and made a difference in her position.
“I want to be known as a person that brought leadership and structure to the department. I’ll revisit with the president at the end of the semester to see if I stay or not,” Armenta said.
