University of Jamestown’s move to division two puts Athletic Director Austin Hieb in familiar situation

JAMESTOWN N.D.– With Jamestown’s official bid to join the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in division two being accepted recently, there will be a lot of changes for the University, and a rising level of unfamiliarity for the Jimmies. But for Jamestown’s athletic director, the NSIC is nothing new for him.

Austin Hieb was named the athletic director for the University of Jamestown in 2022 after resigning from his role as associate athletic director at Northern State University, which is one of the 15 members of the NSIC.

“There is that level of comfort. I’ve seen a lot of the NSIC schools. I know how a fair amount of them operate. I know what the travel schedules look like. And, like you said, knowing people in the league was great,” Hieb said. “being able to, as we were reaching out to these schools and visiting them, there were a fair amount that I had crossed paths with. that i had worked directly with, and that was really helpful. I’m a big relationship guy, and i think those relationships were really, really helpful in the process.”

And Hieb’s level of familiarity with the NSIC has been beneficial for Jamestown’s president, Dr. Polly Peterson, who says it’s helpful to have Hieb as the school transitions to a tougher conference.

“I think knowing that, not only did he come from division two, so he understood the level of compliance that that requires. he provided us with, ‘A’ understanding, that leads to comfort,” peterson said. “And then ‘B’, he’s in the NSIC. he came not only from division two, but within the NSIC, this conference. And so he did understand the level of expertise that we would be joining, and that’s important, it is a very, very good conference.”

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