The Aquinas athletic department and Director of External Relations and Athletic Communications DJ Foster are excited to announce the hiring of Alex Eisen as the new Sports Information Director. Eisen joins the AQ athletic department after spending seven years as an award-winning sports journalist for both print and digital publications.

Most recently, Eisen was the sports editor for two and a half years at the Minot Daily News in Minot, North Dakota. He primarily covered NCAA Division II Minot State University, the Minot Minotauros in the NAHL and other sporting events throughout the region. Eisen wrote game recaps and features, conducted game day interviews, took photos at events, updated social media accounts and managed a small staff of sports reporters. Prior to being promoted to sports editor, Eisen worked as a sports reporter at the daily newspaper for two years where he covered one of the largest high schools in North Dakota, Minot High, along with roughly 25 smaller Class B high schools in the surrounding area. 

Eisen will manage many of the day-to-day operations of the Aquinas sports information office and oversee the department's graduate assistants and student workers.
 
"I want to thank DJ, Nick Davidson and the hiring committee for choosing me for this exciting, new opportunity," Eisen said. "As a sports journalist, I have always worked in conjunction with sports information departments to help gather any information that I needed. I'm looking forward to being on the other side of the equation and providing the material others are seeking. I believe my journalism background gives me a solid foundation to best gather and share noteworthy news about Aquinas athletics. I look forward to working with the student-athletes, coaches and others within the athletic department in uncovering and sharing their stories." 

Eisen was recognized seven times by the North Dakota Newspaper Association for various yearly awards for large daily newspapers, including first and third place for the best sports page in 2019, as well as honorable mentions for best sports series two years in a row with coverage of the Minot State men's hockey team ACHA National Championship in 2019 and the Minotauros reaching the 2018 Robertson Cup Final.

At the high school level, Eisen covered the Minot High boys basketball team winning its third consecutive state championship in 2017, the Minot High softball team winning its first state title in 2018 and reported on numerous multi-day state and regional tournaments in a variety of different sports.

Eisen graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor's degree in journalism. He started as a sports blogger writing opinion pieces for the now-defunct Isportsweb.com about the Detroit Red Wings from 2013-15 before becoming a sports reporter for the Grand Valley student newspaper, The Lanthorn, during his senior year of college in 2015-16. At GVSU, he primarily covered the women's volleyball team and softball team. During his student reporting tenure, the Lakers' women's volleyball team reached the NCAA Tournament while the softball team made the program's third trip to the College World Series.

"I'm very pleased that we were able to add Alex to our department as our new Sports Information Director," Foster explained. "Alex has a diverse background in and around sports. His journalism background is a huge-plus in this industry and in that role, he often communicated with sports information directors at various levels of athletics. Alex has a strong understanding of this industry with his past experiences. I was also impressed with how he demonstrated such a passion and willingness to try something new with this role. I'm excited to have Alex on our team and I know he'll do great things for AQ athletics."

Eisen has also worked freelancing gigs with Sportstats as a timing coordinator for triathlon events across the country, with Genus Sports as a sports statistician for the Grand Rapids Griffins and local soccer clubs in the Grand Rapids area, and with Best of Legacy as a page editor of custom memory books made for professional and college athletes.  
 
Eisen currently resides in Caledonia, Michigan. His duties at Aquinas began on Aug. 17.