Bio

Dan Artamenko enters his fourth year as Director of Athletics at Seward County Community College.  Artamenko provides leadership, direction, and support for the Saints athletic department.

The 2021-2022 seasons saw successes on many fronts.  The Seward County volleyball team continued their growth, reaching a top-15 ranking in the NJCAA.  During the Spring, the Softball and Tennis programs each had great successes.  The Men’s Tennis program, ranked top-3 all season, won the NJCAA National Championship in Tyler, TX.  The Women’s Tennis program finished a program best 3^rd place at the NJCAA National Tournament.  The Seward Softball program finished as Region VI runners-up, highest finish in 6 years.  In addition to the athletic success, the Saints excelled off the court with a department GPA of 3.17.

During the 2020-2021 season, Artamenko led the department through all the COVID changes.  Artamenko served on the institutions COVID-Response team and led all athletic efforts in relation to COVID.  During this time, Artamenko had to hire multiple coaches with the school not allowing visitors, including hiring Head Tennis Coach Mitch Vechione.  Coach Vechione eventually won the NJCAA Men’s National Championship.

Artamenko’s first season at Seward would be one that no one will ever forget.  In the Fall, the Lady Saints Volleyball team made it within one point of winning a National Championship before achieving a program best 2^nd place finish at the NJCAA National Tournament.  In the Spring, COVID-19 pandemic hit.  Artamenko guided the department through the cancellation of sport seasons and closure of schools.

Artamenko joined Seward County after five years as the Director of Athletics at Williston State College.  During his time at Williston State, Artamenko oversaw five teams ranking in the top 20 of the NJCAA polls, four teams reaching the national tournament, and the construction of the Teton softball field.  Artamenko’s main duties were to lead all fundraising efforts for the department and to manage game-day operations for six athletic programs.

Artamenko came to Williston State after three years serving as the athletic coordinator of academics and eligibility at Blinn College.  His mains duties were to monitor the academic progress of all student-athletes, process and submit NJCAA eligibility, and assist students with all academic issues.  Artamenko was able to increase the academic standards of the athletes, increasing overall student-athlete GPA, increasing graduation rates, and had multiple academic all Americans under his watch.

In addition to these duties with Blinn College, he assisted in game-day operations with tasks such as stats and communications, working with media contacts, and helping with athletic fundraisers.  He served as the sole statistician for the 2013 national champion volleyball team.

He also served on the Brazos Valley Football Bowl Committee, which was responsible for creating and hosting a junior college football bowl game.  The game was held at Kyle Field on the Texas A&M campus.  The bowl game set attendance records for NJCAA bowl games with over 6,000 in attendance.

Prior to his arrival at Blinn, Artamenko worked at the NJCAA headquarters in Colorado Springs.  Over his three years working with the NJCAA, Artamenko worked in compliance, media, and sports management.  In his duties, he performed eligibility audits of NJCAA member schools, assisted in creating the monthly NJCAA Review magazine, and managed the weekly sports rankings and player of the week awards.

In addition to this experience, Artamenko has worked with multiple sports programs at different levels.  He worked for USA Wrestling in the marketing department while also assisting with the VIP program for the Olympics.  He also worked in ticket sales for the Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets.  Artamenko got his start in athletics by working as a game day assistant for the sports information director at Lubbock Christian University.

Artamenko is originally from Colorado Springs before receiving his master’s of business administration from the University of Colorado and his bachelor’s degree in sports management from Lubbock Christian.  Artamenko’s wife, Nicole, is a nurse and they have two dogs named Denver and Bailey.