Gary Holden Archives - Ferrum College

Director of Athletics John Sutyak has announced the promotion of Carrie Austin to an assistant athletic director effective December 1. Austin will join Sports Information Director and Assistant Athletic Director Gary Holden in her new responsibilities.

Austin arrived at Ferrum in January 2014 as head field hockey coach after serving as the associate head field hockey coach at Appalachian State University (NC) from 2007 through 2013. She has since added senior woman administrator and compliance director responsibilities to her resume. Austin also became a member of Ferrum’s senior athletic administration team.

“I’m very excited to announce Carrie as an assistant athletic director,” said Sutyak. “Since my arrival at Ferrum, Carrie has been a valued team member, a trusted colleague and someone who has been a respected member of the community in representing the department on campus. The work she has done alongside Gary Holden in advancing our operations in the area of athletic compliance was critical to our internal procedures prior to my arrival. I am looking forward to her sharing her expertise in all aspects of the department as we continue to evolve and move forward as an athletic department.”

Austin’s management experience also includes serving as game supervisor for the 2020 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament first round game in 2020, and as hospitality coordinator for the 2019 NCAA Division III Men’s Wrestling National Championships and the 2018 NCAA Division III Men’s Wrestling Southeast Regional, both of which were hosted by Ferrum College.

Read more on the Ferrum College Athletics website here.

In 2019, Ferrum hosted the NCAA Men’s Wrestling Tournament at the Berglund Center in Roanoke, VA. 2019 photo.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has announced site selections for national championship events for the 2023 through 2026 cycle, and Ferrum College has been selected to host the 2023 Division III Men’s Wrestling Championships. Ferrum will host the event Friday and Saturday, March 10-11, 2023 at the Berglund Center in nearby Roanoke, Virginia.

“All of us at Ferrum College are ecstatic to be chosen to serve as the host of the 2023 NCAA Division III Men’s Wrestling Championship” stated Ferrum College Director of Athletics John Sutyak. “The staff at Ferrum did a remarkable job back in 2019 and it is a testament to the hard work that happened here that the NCAA has rewarded us with another opportunity to welcome the world of Division III men’s wrestling back to the Roanoke Valley. This is an exciting time for Ferrum wrestling and a huge thank you goes out to Assistant Athletic Director Gary Holden, and our Head Men’s Wrestling Coach Ryan Riggs, for putting together a successful bid.”

“I’m grateful for the opportunity for Ferrum College to host the Division III Men’s Wrestling National Championships again in 2023,” said Riggs. “I’m looking forward to working with the Berglund Center event staff and VBR Sports again, making it a quality experience for the competitors, coaches, and fans. We have a lot of wrestlers from the Roanoke Valley and Commonwealth of Virginia who could be wrestling for national titles. It’s exciting! I want to thank President Johns, John Sutyak, and Gary Holden for all of the work they do.”

Despite a spring semester that was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the cancelation of the spring athletic season, Ferrum College is celebrating a substantial increase in unrestricted giving to the Ferrum Fund and to Ferrum athletics.

“We asked our alumni and friends for support, and they responded in an overwhelming way,” said Vice President for Institutional Advancement and External Relations Wilson Paine ’07.

For fiscal year 2020 (July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020), the College saw a 33% increase in giving to the Ferrum Fund compared to last year, with close to 900 donations totaling over $400,000. Additionally, donations to athletics increased by 40% with gifts exceeding $140,000 from over 500 donors, which is double the donors from last year.

“It is extremely exciting to achieve this accomplishment during such a difficult and unexpected year,” said Director of Athletics John Sutyak, who arrived at the College in January of this year. “I’m continually impressed by our loyal supporter base and their commitment to Ferrum athletics and our student-athletes.”

Along with Ferrum’s dedicated donors and the addition of corporate sponsorship opportunities, Sutyak credits the increase in athletic giving to his coaching staff; Assistant Director of Athletics and Sports Information Director Gary Holden, and the institutional advancement staff, particularly Paine, Director of Development Bart Smith, and Director of Annual Giving Crystal Gibson.

Gifts to the Ferrum Fund go to a variety of programs at the College, including scholarships, academic programs, and student support. Ferrum Fund dollars help provide aid to students who may no longer have the means to continue their education due to financial hardships created by COVID-19.

“This is a great victory for Ferrum College and Ferrum athletics. We are grateful to our alumni, parents, and supporters who made gifts despite the shortened spring season and other challenges,” said Paine.

To learn how to support Ferrum athletics and the Ferrum Fund, and for more information about corporate sponsorship opportunities, please contact Wilson Paine at wpaine@ferrum.edu or 540-365-4211.

Learn more about the Ferrum Fund here, and more about Ferrum athletics here.

Ferrum College’s Gary Holden was recently featured in the College Sports Information Directors of America 360 magazine for his expansive knowledge in collegiate athletics.

Currently serving the College as sports information director and assistant athletic director for compliance, Holden’s career began in the mid-1980’s as an assistant wrestling coach at Plymouth State University, and grew to include head wrestling coach and residence hall director at the university. Holden joined Ferrum College as sports information director in 1991. Except for a small hiatus as SID to Lynchburg College from 1997-1998, Holden has called Ferrum College his home for almost 30 years. While at Ferrum, he has seen and done just about everything in collegiate athletics, including serving as sports information director, assistant athletic director, compliance director, head men’s tennis coach, interim head women’s tennis coach, and commissioner to the Atlantic Central Football Conference.

“Life as an SID can be a blur sometimes,” Holden remarked. “Add in compliance work and you jump from one thing to the next to keep up. It’s crazy, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

A native of Nashua, New Hampshire, Holden and his wife Leslie reside in Ferrum, and are the parents of two grown sons Taylor and Drew. He is the author of the book Black & Gold, A History of Athletics at Ferrum College, which he wrote and self-published in 2014. Holden was inducted into Plymouth State’s Sports Hall of Fame in October 2015.