A Biography of Each Athletics Director - Long Beach State University Athletics

LONG BEACH STATE'S ATHLETICS DIRECTORS

	Dr. Jack Montgomery, 1949-64 (15 years) Montgomery was the university's first athletics director. Lured in 1951 from UCLA, where he had been an athlete, teacher and head coach, Montgomery hired the school's first coaches... Mike DeLotto (football), Earl Kidd (basketball, tennis) and Walter Crowe (track). Montgomery stepped down as athletics director and director of Heath, Physical Education and Recreation after 13 years in 1964, but continued coaching the 49er golf team through 1971. His last team won a SoCal Championship. Montgomery retired, professor emeritus, in 1973 and passed away in 1982 in Bend, OR. His three sons, Dick, Don and Mike, were all athletes at Long Beach State and continued the family tradition, coaching following their graduations. His son, Mike, was also inducted into the LBSU Hall of Fame.
	Dr. Walter C. Crowe, 1964-67 (3 years) A number of first's happened during Crowe's tenure as athletics director taking over for his former boss, Jack Montgomery, in 1964 after Montgomery hired Crowe as the school's first track coach. Crowe oversaw the first women's volleyball team in 1964 and the first women's golf team a year later. The 49ers won their first conference title in baseball in 1964 and in track in 1965. The school's first national title, in track and field, would come in 1967. The 1964 Olympic Games were full of 49ers, as 14 athletes called The Beach home
	Dr. Fred Miller, 1967-71 (4 years) Jim Stangeland... Don Gambril... Jerry Tarkanian... Fred Miller hired all of them during his tenure as athletics director at Long Beach State. In 1970, Miller's final year at Long Beach State, teams won seven Pacific Coast Athletic Association championships. Miller left Long Beach for Arizona State, where he was athletics director for eight years. While there, Miller added 10 women's sports to what had been an 11-sport, all-male athletic program. He was also in charge of San Diego State's athletics department in the 1980's. He is also a member of the National Association of Collegiate Athletics Directors Hall of Fame.
	Bob Wuesthoff, Interim, 1971 The Long Beach State baseball coach served as the interim director of athletics in between Miller and Comer.
	Dr. Lew Comer, 1971-74 (4 years) Comer administered the athletic program at Long Beach State for three years (1972-75) during the NCAA Probationary Period. He was responsible for responding to changes and effecting changes mandated by the NCAA. He remained as a professor of the Department of Physical Education for several years after. The men's basketball team became a power nationally, reaching three NCAA Tournaments, football reached its own post-season bowl, cross country dominated the conference. It was also the beginning of Title-IX, as two national titles came to the women's volleyball program. The 1972 Olympics saw success (Gunnar Larsson) and shock (Ed Ratleff) by two of its former stars. Men's water polo would show its dominace throughout the decade. The school also saw a number of changes, moving from a college to a university.
	Perry Moore, 1974-82 (8 years) Perry was the 49ers' athletic director for eight years during a time when the 49ers produced 18 Olympians (for the 1976 Games), but he and his wife, Pearl had unmatched support of 49er athletics, both financially and emotionally. They are corporate sponsors of the 49er Foundation and were the first lifetime members of the organization. In 1990 they received the Presidents Award for outstanding commitment to the university and community. The 49ers saw the re-shaping of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association and the hey day for track and field with Dwight Stones and Kate Schmidt and swimming with Tim Shaw. The women's basketball program took off in the late 1970's under Joan Bonvicini to become a national power, while the men's basketball program reached No. 2 nationally in 1982. The football team also had a string of success, going 15-7 as the decade changed over from 1979 to 1980. LBSU also started the women's programs of track (1977-78), softball (1981) and women's soccer (1983).
	Corey Van Fleet, 1982-84 (3 years) Van Fleet was hired in September, 1982 and quickly launched a major promotional campaign to bring greater visibility to the department through increased community involvement. Athletically, the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference became more regionalized with the addition of schools like Hawaii and New Mexico State, and is the first conference to host women's athletics championships in the West. LaTaunya Pollard dominates in women's basketball, as so do the 49ers.
	John Kasser, 1984-87 (3 years) Kasser took over the reigns of the department in August, 1984 from the University of Houston, and spent the next three years at Long Beach State. As the Olympics raced through Los Angeles, so did the 49ers as women's volleyball and softball became national powers. Tara Cross began in dominance of the net, while softball reached its first College World Series in 1986. Women's Basketball reached its highest level, reaching the Final Four for the first of two seasons in 1987.
	Corey Johnson, 1987-91 (4 years) Johnson spent three years at The Beach, beginning on April 6, 1987 as the second youngest athletics director in school history at age 40. Johnson administered facility improvements in track, the baseball field, tennis courts and the expansion of the weight room. He took over a budget deeply in debt and increased the department's fundraising to over $500,000 and a foundation membership of over 1200. During his tenure, the 49ers won their first NCAA Championship in women's volleyball and appeared in their first College Baseball World Series, both in 1989, men's volleyball won an NCAA title in 1991 and facing a 20-percent state cut in March, Johnson made the the tough choice and dropped men's and women's swimming, men's tennis and men's golf. The golf program survived as a result of a community-based fund raising effort.
	Dave O'Brien, 1991-96 (5 years) The man behind the opening of the Walter Pyramid in 1994, O'Brien spent five years at The Beach, as the 49ers six "targeted" sports won a combined 60 percent of their contests. Men's Basketball reached the NCAA Tournament in 1993 and 1995, while the the baseball team reached the College World Series in 1993. Women's volleyball reached three-straight NCAA Final Fours from 1991 to 1993, culminating in the national championship in 1993, and the softball program was a two-time regional champions and reached three-straight CWS from 1991 to 1993.
	Bill Shumard, 1996-2005 (9 years) For nine years Shumard took the athletic program in a new direction from its "targeted sports" philosophy to a broad-based forum, thanks to the Spring 2000 Student Referendum which brought nearly $1 million each year to the Department of Athletics providing full scholarship monies to complement all varsity sports. The budget for the Department of Athletics grew from $5 million to $9.4 million. Shumard spearheaded capital projects and improvements estimated at $4.5 million and a $600,000 campaign to complete the basketball offices in The Pyramid, a project that was completed in the fall of 2001. Long Beach State finished in the Top-100 in five of the nine years in the Director's Cup standings. In the 1998-99 standings, Long Beach State finished tied for 43rd place. LBSU added the sports of women's water polo (Spring 1998) and women's soccer (Fall 1998) under his reign. Teams won NCAA titles in 1998 for women's volleyball and reached the College World Series in baseball that same year. Men's Volleyball twice reached the finals, in 1999 and 2004. Softball, women's tennis and women's water polo each had their most successful seasons near the end of his tenure. In addition, Shumard worked with LBSU Alumnus Mick Ukleja to create "Leadership Track at The Beach," a leadership training program for student-athletes.
	Cindy Masner, 2005-06-interim (1 year) The Long Beach State senior woman's administrator and senior associate athletics director served as interim director for the 2005-06 athletic season in between Shumard and Vic Cegles.
	Vic Cegles , 2006-2016 (10 years) In 10 seasons as the Director of Athletics, Vic Cegles ushered Long Beach State into another golden era of success, while streamlining the department's operation and development. Cegles, who was hired as the school's 12th Director of Athletics in April 2006, made an impact in the athletic department's ability to fundraise which is key to his goal of making Long Beach State not only the premiere school in the Big West Conference, but a player on the national stage when it comes to both athletics and academics. During his tenure, Long Beach State won six Big West Commissioner's Cups, including five in a row from 2010-11 to 2014-15, and he was named the Under Armour 1-AAA Athletic Director of the Year in 2014.
	Cindy Masner, 2016-2017 Interim (1 year) The longest tenured employee at Long Beach State, Cindy Masner began working with the athletics department during her undergraduate time as a student-athlete, and has spent over 30 years within the department as a senior administrator. Masner just concluded her second term serving as the Interim Athletics Director at the Beach.
	Andy Fee, 2017-2022 (5 Years) Andy Fee was hired in April of 2017 as the 12th Director of Athletics of Long Beach State. With an extensive background in athletics administration with an emphasis on development and operations, Fee joins Long Beach State after spending the past seven years at UC Santa Barbara, most recently as the Deputy Athletics Director. During Fee's tenure, Long Beach State Men's Volleyball has won two straight national championships, including playing host to the championship during the 2018-19 season.
	Ted Kadowaki, 2022-23 Interim Ted Kadowaki was named the Interim Director of Athletics following the departure of Andy Fee in August of 2022. Kadowaki returns to the Beach after spending over 30 years in service to the university in a number of roles. Initially hired in 1989 to work in the department of Administration and Finance, Kadowaki joined the Long Beach State Athletics in 1998, and worked for the department for seven years while serving as an Associate Athletics Director and chief financial officer. Earning another promotion, Kadowaki moved back to University administration in 2006, and in 2008 was named the Associate Vice President of Budget and University Services, a position he held until 2020 upon his initial retirement.
	Bobby Smitheran, 2023-Present Bobby Smitheran was officially named the 13th Executive Director of Athletics at Long Beach State in August 2023. Smitheran enters the role with more than 20 years of experience in intercollegiate athletics, most recently serving as the Executive Associate Athletics Director at San Diego State University. In his role at SDSU, Smitheran was responsible for managing the comprehensive academic support program that served over 450 Aztec student-athletes, which includes academic advising, academic mentoring, tutoring, access to a learning specialist and grade-checks with campus professors. He is also the supervisor for the areas of Athletic Medicine, Strength & Conditioning, Student-Athlete Development and NCAA/Institutional Drug Testing. Smitheran was the sports supervisor for the Aztec football program for seven years and the softball program for five years. He also oversaw the SDSU athletics special admission program in consultation with the University's vice-president for enrollment management.