Groth merges on field, off field success during time at Nevada
Entering her fourth year as the athletics director for the University of Nevada, Cary Groth has helped the Wolf Pack build a strong reputation, not only regionally but nationally.The football program has appeared in three straight bowl games, the men’s basketball team has been to four straight NCAA Tournaments, and last year the Wolf Pack won the WAC Commissioner’s Cup, given to the school with best combined performance in all sports.
Since arriving in 2004, Groth has continued to strengthen schedules, build new facilities, and give back to the community. The Girl Scouts of Sierra Nevada honored Groth along with three others in their fifth annual “Celebrating Women in Leadership” dinner on Thursday.
Pre-Nevada
Before coming to Nevada, Groth brought the Northern Illinois athletic department to the national stage in several sports.
The football team snapped a 23-game losing streak and eventually rose to a No. 12 national ranking in 2003. Football tickets quadrupled and the school gained recognition from the NCAA for attendance.
“It was dreadful,” Peters said. “She provided a strong basis for the football program. Through all of this, she ran a very good program. We did not have very many issues with the NCAA.”
When Peters was named the president in 2000, he saw Groth’s reputation grow stronger with her peers at the university. National media paid attention to Groth’s success when she was named to the “Super 50: Women’s Sports Executives” in Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal in 1998.
“She had already made her reputation and worked her way up to the top position in athletics,” Peters said. “She’s just a pleasure to work with as an individual. She had the respect of so many people. She really helped develop the athletic program in a difficult time.”
Being named to the “Super 50” started a flow of national accolades. Groth was recognized in 2003 as the National Association of Collegiate Women’s Athletic Administrators Division I Administrator of the Year and the Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association Administrator of the Year. She was also selected and served on the Department of Education’s Commission on Opportunity in Athletics in 2002-03.
Accomplishments in three years
Nevada continues to overcome all kinds of adversity, including death, which has cast a shadow over the accomplishments Groth has helped the university achieve in her three years.
“She brings a level of professionalism to our program,” said Jannet Vreeland, vice provost of the university. “She wants to do the right thing.”
Arguably the most important achievement in the Groth era is providing equal opportunities for women in athletics. Nevada has been listed as the best athletics department in the nation in providing opportunities for women in sports in each of the last two years in the national Gender Equity Scorecard study.
“There was a culture that was developed here by the community members and Dr. (Joe) Crowley, who was the president at the time,” Groth said.
By keeping a full slate of programs at the university, the Wolf Pack has grown into a force in the Western Athletic Conference. Nevada won the WAC’s Commissioner’s Cup last season as the best overall athletics department in the conference for the first time in school history. Nevada lost by less than three points two years ago.
Strengthening schedules, especially football, has been one of Groth’s fortes. The football team opened at Nebraska this season and has Notre Dame, Florida State and Oregon later this decade.
“She’s been very supportive, which is what you want from your administration,” said Chris Ault, the football coach who served as the athletic director from 1986 to 2003. “She’s very helpful and all for what you want to get done and how we’re trying to do it.”
But football is not the only sport enduring tougher schedules. The men’s and women’s basketball teams will be playing stronger non-conference opponents this season. The men will play at North Carolina next month while the women will face UCLA in the Nugget Classic in Reno next month.
“She has raised the national prominence by really going after big-time schools, like Nebraska,” Vreeland said. “She’s really helping our national reputation. We see this as a win-win not only for the Wolf Pack but the school as a whole.”
Groth was also responsible for launching Wolf Pack Sports Network, which helped fans gain more access to watching Nevada compete on the road.
“It’s really big. Hopefully we’ll be able to integrate radio, TV and the Web site annually more and more as time goes on,” Groth said.
What lies ahead for Nevada
Groth’s expectations are for Nevada to continue to excel at a higher level. She said that several obstacles lie in the way of creating new facilities because of the source of funding.
Building a practice gym for the basketball teams and an outdoor track are in the works.
Fundraising has been the source to putting those visions into reality.
Groth paved the way for the E.L. Cord Academic and Athletics Performance Complex, a 46,000-plus-square-foot facility designed to provide Nevada’s student-athletes with top-notch resources. The Cashell Fieldhouse went through a renovation, including new locker rooms and the state-of-the-art Roger B. Primm Sports Medicine and Strength Center.
The Christina M. Hixson softball park opened midway last season after the Pack played its home games at Idewild Park. The Marguerite Petersen Academic Center is currently under construction and is planned to open next year.
“We’re planning right now,” Groth said. “Every penny for a new facility has to be generated externally. There are no state funds to help for facilities, and there are no university funds.”
Groth said fundraising has come through private donors and work done in the community by the staff.
“The last two years, we’ve generated more money. We’re at the top of the university,” Groth said. “We generate 31 percent of the funds at the university. We’re really proud of that.”
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at 1:52 am and is filed under Football, Sports.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Print this post
Email this post© 2008 The Nevada Sagebrush
