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Linda Cifranic "I wanted to be a director in media relations, and ORU was a perfect fit me," said Gary Brown, ORU's new Sports Information Director. Brown, a native of Oklahoma, said that the other factors that attracted him to ORU were the school's comfortable class="text" working environment and the fact that it allowed him to be close to his family.
After coming to ORU three months ago to serve as assistant director in the media relations department, he was promoted to director when former SID Allison Starke left in December to take a new job. Before joining the ORU staff, Brown worked for three years in media relations at the University of Oklahoma, where he is completing his degree.
At ORU, Brown supervises a staff of six student workers and an assistant director, oversees all media involvement of all sixteen Division I athletics teams, and handles all local and national interview and media requests. Linda Cifranic migrated from Australia in 1993 on an athletics scholarship to Oklahoma University, where she majored in sociology with a minor in health and sports science. In February 1998, she came to ORU as the assistant coach for the women's tennis team and since then has been promoted to the position of head coach. "I came to ORU because of the coaching position and the fact that I wanted to grow in the Lord," she said.
Rob Walton "ORU is different; it is disciplined. And that is really an advantage because it helps you to realize that you are here to serve the Lord," Cifranic said. As for her goals for the coming year, she said that her goal is "to win the Mid-Continent Conference, to be the first in ORU's history to help take the team to the NCAA. And I want the girls to just enjoy themselves and their time in college."
"I hope to be a positive influence on young people's lives." That is Rob Walton's goal as assistant coach of ORU's baseball team. A graduate of Oklahoma State University (his degree is in education), Walton played professional baseball for 4 years with the Baltimore Orioles and scouted with the Cleveland Indians. Walton started his new position on January 1 and says that he came to ORU because of the environment and the structure of the university. As for his long- term vision, Walton believes "the coaching staff here is good and the kids on the team are also good. We have a good opportunity to succeed this year and in years to come."
