Hartwick College’s Chris Gondek Named 2017-18 Collegiate Water Polo Association Women’s Division I Sports Information Director of the Year

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Chris Gondek of Hartwick College is the 2017-18 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Women’s Division I Sports Information Director of the Year.

Selected by the CWPA Director of Communications, the SID of the Year award is presented to individuals who “have achieved notable excellence in the field of water polo communications during the past academic year.”

Appointed the Director of Sports Information at Hartwick in August 2008 and promoted to Assistant Athletic Director of Athletic Communications in January 2012, Gondek oversees the coordination of all media responsibilities for the school’s 17 varsity athletic programs.

A member of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors Association (ECAC-SIDA), Gondek also serves on various committees within the athletic department and Hartwick.

He served as Sports Information Director at both Wells College and SUNYIT before his employment at Hartwick.

Gondek spent one year as the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Publicist in 2003-04 before serving as Sports Information Assistant at Elmira College from 2004-06, where he earned a master’s degree in education.

A four-year college soccer player at Plattsburgh State University from 1995-98, where he helped the Cardinals to four postseason berths and an overall record of 59-14-5, he was named an all-region and all-State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) performer.  He continues to rank among the Top Five in goals, assist, and points in the program’s record books.

Upon earning his degree from Plattsburgh in 2000, he served as Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach at SUNY New Paltz for two years while also working in the institution’s sports information office.

Gondek’s award marks the fourth CWPA Division I SID of the Year laurel presented by the league office since the merger of the Southern, Northern and Western Divisions into one format prior to the 2015 season.  The 11th year of Athletics Communications recognition by the CWPA dating back to the first awards following the 2008 season, Gondek’s accolade marks the second tallied by Hartwick following former SID John Gilger taking the 2008 Northern Division award.