The College of Wooster athletics department recently completed a multi-semester realignment of its administrative team to better reflect the evolving needs of the department and the overall landscape of intercollegiate athletics. The changes included Libby Ladrach’s promotion to senior associate director of athletics this August, Kevin Smith’s elevation to assistant athletic director of communications in January, and Nate Huston’s elevation to director of sports medicine in January.

“These changes and in some instances, promotions better identify the scope of work our administrative team covers,” said Lynn Holleran, Wooster’s director of athletics and physical education. “We are fortunate to have Libby, Kevin, and Nate, and we appreciate the great work they do to support our student-athletes. Our realignment best positions us to serve our student-athletes and provide a great experience for our Fighting Scots in today’s intercollegiate landscape at the institution, conference, and national levels.”

Ladrach joined the department as associate director of athletics on August 1, 2022, and served as acting director of athletics in the fall of 2023. In her role, Ladrach is responsible for implementing best practices and comprehensive programming to promote student well-being. Ladrach leads the department’s comprehensive academic monitoring and success plans, develops and maintains mutually supportive and collaborative working relationships with key campus partners, and is the department’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee advisor. She will now have sport oversight of varsity programs, as well as the College’s cheer program. She will also be involved in external operations, including collaborating on marketing, promotions, and fan engagement to enhance visibility and support revenue generation. The NCAA Pathways Program alumna led the implementation of the department’s student-athlete commencement stole initiative and will work to expand the department’s community impact, contributing to strategic planning and overseeing operations aligned with NCAA, NCAC, and institutional policies.  

Smith joined the College in 2015 and is in his 10th year leading the athletic communication team, which provides engaging content for the athletics website, the main athletic department social media channels, and the media. Wooster recently joined SIDEARM sports as a client for its website content management. Wooster’s athletic communication team regularly pursues nominations for student-athletes for awards and NCAA-sponsored professional development programming. Smith serves as the North Coast Athletic Conference’s athletic directors’ liaison to the men’s and women’s golf coaches.

Huston started at Wooster in 2011 and has led the sports medicine staff since 2019. He teaches a full-credit class on the prevention and care for athletic injuries and co-chairs the game scheduling committee. More recently, Huston continued the partnership with Longbrake Wellness Center to do all student-athlete physicals on campus each August and has coordinated the transition to the College’s new medical paperwork system, Pyramed. Within the last few years, Wooster added a fourth full-time athletic trainer to better support the student-athletes and enable more coverage at conference road contests.