Girres poised to keep success going as new LeBlond athletic director
Jul. 9—Mitch Girres said he never really saw himself as an athletic director.
But when the opportunity presented itself, he jumped at it.
"It's right up my alley," Girres said. "I care about our student athletes and our families here, and I wanna help them as best I can to try to achieve their goals."
Girres was announced as the new athletic director at Bishop LeBlond on Thursday.
He has served as the boys basketball coach at LeBlond since 2016 and as the boys and girls golf coach for one season. He led the boys golf team to its third-straight state championship this spring.
Girres takes over for Michael Evans, who stepped down last week after five years in the position.
"I wanted to be a part of that, continuing on the success that (Evans) had going here the last five years," Girres said, "so I threw my name in the hat, and I was fortunate enough that (LeBlond principal Kimberly Huss) and the administration believed in me and offered me the job."
Huss officially assumed duties as principal at LeBlond on July 1. She said that presented a challenge in finding a replacement for Evans, but she's confident in the decision for Girres to take over.
"He is extremely passionate about helping the students of Bishop LeBlond grow to their fullest potential," Huss said. "He has a demonstrated record of success in coaching, and I think that he will be able to give good guidance to our coaches at Bishop LeBlond."
Staying on as LeBlond's boys basketball and boys golf coach, Girres said he will have a lot of duties to juggle going forward. But he says he's used to staying busy, after serving as the middle school athletic director in the past.
"It's not gonna be a whole lot different this year," Girres said. "It's just time management, being organized and hopefully being able to commit enough time to all those different things to excel at."
After a successful school year for LeBlond athletics, Girres steps in looking to keep it going. Huss said she has confidence that Girres will be able to do so.
"I think that Mitch is coming into a great time frame," Huss said. "Our programs are going to continue doing what they have been doing and reaching for success, and I think Mitch will be able to work with those coaches effectively to make that happen."
Looking into the future, Huss said Girres is the perfect leader to continue to push LeBlond athletics toward success
"We're excited for the future," Huss said. "We know that Mitch wants the best for each one of our student athletes, and he will continue to work hard to make sure that that happens."
As he steps into the first school year in his new role, Girres said he's going to take things as they come and lean on his strong group of coaches to continue success in LeBlond athletics.
"Right now, we have a fantastic group of hard-working, dedicated people that are spending a lot of time with our student athletes," Girres said. "As long as I keep them around and they keep doing the things they're doing, I think we'll be ok."
Jacob Lang can be reached at jacob.lang@newspressnow.com. Follow him on twitter: @NPNowLang.
