LA GRANDE, Ore. – Greg Eide, whose steady transformation of Corban University athletics resulted in 2016-17 being the most successful year in department history, has been rewarded for his efforts with the Cascade Conference Athletic Director of the Year award, the league office announced Thursday.
 
Eide, the first Warrior AD to win the award since Tim Hills shared it in 1997, will be put forth as the conference's nominee for NAIA Athletic Director of the Year.
 
Under his leadership, Corban was second in this year’s CCC All-Sports Trophy race, the top finish in school history. Prior to his arrival Corban had finished in the top five just once, but has since been top-five each of his four years.
 
Four Warrior sports qualified for the NAIA National Championships for the first time in school history: men’s soccer, volleyball, men’s basketball and softball. The softball team, seeded sixth at the NAIA World Series, ended as the school’s first national runner-up.
 
Corban also captured CCC regular-season titles in men’s soccer, softball and men’s golf. The Warriors placed second in volleyball and women’s golf, third in women’s soccer and fourth in men’s track and field.
 
“I am honored to receive this award because I have tremendous respect for my peers in the CCC and know we have several worthy candidates each year,” Eide said. “This is a team award to be shared with our student-athletes, coaches, trainers and athletic department staff. Without great people surrounding me, an award like this is not possible. I would also like to thank leadership at Corban University for being such strong supporters of athletics and creating a structure that provides us the opportunity to be successful.”
 
Eide has impacted the staffing within Warrior athletics, working hard the last four years to move every head coaching position to full-time, adding a senior administrative position and creating graduate assistant positions throughout the department. He has hired six new coaches, a head certified athletic trainer and sports information director. In conjunction with elevated staffing levels, Eide has increased the overall number of student-athletes at Corban from just over 200 to 315.
 
He leads a department that has been awarded the CCC Presidents’ Academic Excellence award each of the past four years. To qualify for the honor, a department's CCC programs must combine for a grade-point average of 3.0 or better and 60 percent or more of its eligible athletes must have earned U.S. Bank Academic All-CCC accolades. This year, 133 Warriors were academic all-conference selections and several more were CoSIDA Academic All-District and All-America honorees.
 
"I am so thankful to have Greg Eide leading our athletic programs for Corban University,” stated Corban President Dr. Sheldon Nord. “We have seen improvements in our facilities, leadership team, and success in the classroom and on the field or court of competition under his leadership the past four years. More to come."
 
A strong proponent of the NAIA Champions of Character program, Eide implemented a Corban Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) emphasizing outreach and community projects. One of the results was the creation of a Mighty Warrior Award for each team whose characteristics best reflect the NAIA Champions of Character core values of respect, responsibility, integrity, sportsmanship and servant leadership.
 
Working closely with architects, engineers and contractors, Eide helped develop plans for new athletic facilities and a gym expansion. The “Capital Campaign” to pursue the private funding has been approved by the Corban Board of Trustees and Eide will be part of the fundraising team.
 
Since Eide started at Corban in 2013, the Warriors have won six CCC regular-season championships, totaled 24 NAIA All-America honorees, and seven Warrior student-athletes have garnered CoSIDA Academic All-America plaudits.
 
Eide received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Seattle Pacific University and his master’s degree in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia-Irvine.
 
Greg and his wife, Debbie, will celebrate their 40^th anniversary this summer. They have one son, Tyler, and one daughter, McKenzie.