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DENVER - Metro State director of athletics Joan McDermott announced that John Kietzmann (pronounced KITS-man) has been selected as the new assistant athletic director in charge of marketing and media relations.  Kietzmann will replace Ron Christian, who resigned in July to accept a teaching position at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

“We had dozens of excellent candidates and John was one that stood out after his interviews,” McDermott said.  “He really has a passion for athletics and a great work ethic.  He comes with a well-rounded background in college athletics and he will be able to help out and bring expertise in many areas in our department.  We targeted someone who has had success raising money, working with corporate sponsors, marketing, event planning, and excellent organizational skills and John has all of the qualities we were looking for.”

Kietzmann joins Metro State after five years in the athletics department at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, S.D., where he has spent the past two years as assistant athletic director.  He began his time at BHSU as the director of athletic development, supervising and coordinating all marketing promotions and creating new marketing strategies for the Yellow Jackets.  He oversaw all aspects of fundraising for athletics at BHSU, and continued the same responsibilities when accepting the position of assistant athletic director in 2009.  After the promotion, he added the responsibilities of media relations, sports information and special event planning to his duties.

During Kietzmann's tenure at Black Hills State, the Yellow Jacket Foundation added over $700,000 to its scholarship endowment.  Kietzmann was also heavily involved in the addition of the video board to the Young Center and renovating the Young Center bleachers to chair seating.  He played a major role in the implementation of the new BHSU athletics website, which was recently named the top website in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) in the category of “Outsourced Website” by the NAIA Sports Information Directors of America.  He has also helped BHSU with its transition to NCAA Division II, as it will join the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in 2012.

Prior to his time at Black Hills State, Kietzmann spent eight years in the athletic department at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.  He began as a sports information intern and became a full-time employee in 2000 in the media relations department.

He also brings experience as a sports broadcast producer, working for KIIX Sports Radio, overseeing live broadcasts of the Colorado Rockies, Denver Broncos and other professional, collegiate and high school athletic events.

“It is an exciting time to be a part of Roadrunner athletics,” Kietzmann said.  “I am looking forward to becoming part of the Metro State family.  [The college] has so much going for it. The location in downtown Denver, the strong alumni base, the past success in athletics, and the quality of current student-athletes all played a part in making Metro State the place that I want to be.  I can't wait to get to Metro State and start meeting people. Getting to know and connect with fans, donors, sponsors and coaches will be a major part of my first few months.”

Kietzmann is a Colorado native, graduating from Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins in 1997.  He and his wife, Elise (Klima), have a nine-year-old daughter, Emily.  Kietzmann graduated from CSU with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 2001 and is currently working on his master's degree in business management.