Mark Papich Position: Director of Athletics Institution: University of the Incarnate Word

Prior to the summer of 2001 and becoming head of Incarnate Word's (UIW) 17-sport athletics department (synchronized swimming and women's swimming were added with his leadership), the 46-year-old Mark Papich was and continues to be involved with the Cardinals volleyball team albeit not as head coach any more. He also is director of the campus Wellness Center and of the Ann Barshop Natatorium.

In talking with the New Kensington (Pa.) native, be prepared for the conversation to include tidbits about upgrading athletics facilities, about usage of those facilities, about recruiting, camps, the funding of all teams, about eligibility of athletes, and on and on and on.

And, in the spring of 2004, he was a point person is the implementation of changing the Incarnate Word mascot from Crusaders to Cardinals, a process which is on-going.

In fact, it was volleyball which brought him to UIW in the fall of 1995 as the team's assistant coach.

In 1996 as the interim coach, Papich saw his Cardinals win 20 matches for the first time in four years. Then, in 1997, Incarnate Word won a school record 31 matches and tied for the old Heart of Texas Conference title. But that was only the cake. The icing was winning the NAIA Southwest Regional tournament and advancing to the national championships for the first time ever.

Following that season, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) named Papich the Tachikara Region Coach of the Year. That honor, from his fellow coaches, came on top of his being named NAIA Southwest Region Coach of the Year as well as the Heart of Texas Conference Coach of the Year.

His cumulative mark at Incarnate Word is 124-124 which makes him the winningest volleyball coach ever at UIW.

A member of the AVCA, Papich holds a bachelor of science degree in industrial design from the Cincinnati. While at Cincinnati, he played baseball and lacrosse.