COLLEGE PARK, Md. –The University of Maryland athletics department has announced the hiring of Dustin Semonavick as assistant athletics director for media relations. He will serve as the primary media contact for the football program.
“We are excited to welcome Dustin to the University of Maryland,” said head coach Randy Edsall. “Dustin is an experienced leader in the field of public relations. He did a tremendous job guiding Towson’s athletic communications office as well as spearheading its football program’s daily communications. Dustin has a strong working knowledge of the local media landscape.”
“I would like to thank Kevin Anderson, Randy Edsall and Zack Bolno for providing me with this this opportunity,” said Semonavick. “I am extremely excited to join the University of Maryland athletics staff and become a part of the Terrapin family. I look forward to working with the student-athletes, coaches and administrators to promote Maryland athletics.”
Semonavick most recently served as the director of media relations at Towson University, where he was the primary contact for the football team. He was also the primary media contact for the men’s basketball team from 2011-14.
During his time with men's hoops, Semonavick utilized his regional and national media contacts to secure features on the team that ran in USA Today, The New York Times, ESPN.com, Grandland.com, Yahoo! Sports, The Baltimore Sun and many other notable publications.
Semonavick designed and executed two successful Player of the Year campaigns for Towson forward Jerrelle Benimon, who earned AP All-America and Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year accolades. During his time with men's basketball, the Tigers set an NCAA record for largest single-season turnaround in 2012-13 and won a Division I school-record 25 games in 2013-14. Towson’s historic turnaround was featured on CBS Sports Television and in the Sporting News and USA Today.
A native of Dover, Del., Semonavick started his career as a Sports Information intern at his alma mater where he worked for long-time SID Scott Selheimer. Prior to his arrival at Towson, he worked in the offices at Rutgers University and Old Dominion University.
Semonavick arrived at Towson after two years at Old Dominion. At ODU, Semonavick was the primary contact for the Lady Monarchs basketball team, along with the nationally-ranked field hockey and sailing squads. He was also a key contributor to the media relation efforts for the ODU men’s basketball team during the 2009-10 season in which the Monarchs had 14 televised games, won the CAA Tournament and upset Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament First Round.
At Rutgers, Semonavick worked as the primary media contact for men's and women's lacrosse, volleyball, tennis and swimming & diving. He was also the secondary contact for the nationally-ranked women's basketball team, which made a pair of Sweet 16 appearances during his tenure.
While at Rutgers, numerous features on Semonavick’s teams and student-athletes appeared in national media outlets, including ESPN.com, NCAA.com, Sports Illustrated, HBO Real Sports, ABC’s Nightline and ESPN The Magazine.
He earned his degree in English/Journalism from the University of Delaware in May of 2005. While at Delaware, he worked for three years as a reporter for the award-winning student newspaper, The Review, and served as co-producer and host of the Hen Zone, a weekly UD sports television show.
An outstanding tennis player, Semonavick served as team captain and led Caesar Rodney High School to the Delaware state team title in 2001. He also played in four Club National Campus Tennis Championships representing the University of Delaware, leading the squad to a Top 10 national finish in 2002 at Austin, Texas.
“We are excited to welcome Dustin to the University of Maryland,” said head coach Randy Edsall. “Dustin is an experienced leader in the field of public relations. He did a tremendous job guiding Towson’s athletic communications office as well as spearheading its football program’s daily communications. Dustin has a strong working knowledge of the local media landscape.”
“I would like to thank Kevin Anderson, Randy Edsall and Zack Bolno for providing me with this this opportunity,” said Semonavick. “I am extremely excited to join the University of Maryland athletics staff and become a part of the Terrapin family. I look forward to working with the student-athletes, coaches and administrators to promote Maryland athletics.”
Semonavick most recently served as the director of media relations at Towson University, where he was the primary contact for the football team. He was also the primary media contact for the men’s basketball team from 2011-14.
During his time with men's hoops, Semonavick utilized his regional and national media contacts to secure features on the team that ran in USA Today, The New York Times, ESPN.com, Grandland.com, Yahoo! Sports, The Baltimore Sun and many other notable publications.
Semonavick designed and executed two successful Player of the Year campaigns for Towson forward Jerrelle Benimon, who earned AP All-America and Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year accolades. During his time with men's basketball, the Tigers set an NCAA record for largest single-season turnaround in 2012-13 and won a Division I school-record 25 games in 2013-14. Towson’s historic turnaround was featured on CBS Sports Television and in the Sporting News and USA Today.
A native of Dover, Del., Semonavick started his career as a Sports Information intern at his alma mater where he worked for long-time SID Scott Selheimer. Prior to his arrival at Towson, he worked in the offices at Rutgers University and Old Dominion University.
Semonavick arrived at Towson after two years at Old Dominion. At ODU, Semonavick was the primary contact for the Lady Monarchs basketball team, along with the nationally-ranked field hockey and sailing squads. He was also a key contributor to the media relation efforts for the ODU men’s basketball team during the 2009-10 season in which the Monarchs had 14 televised games, won the CAA Tournament and upset Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament First Round.
At Rutgers, Semonavick worked as the primary media contact for men's and women's lacrosse, volleyball, tennis and swimming & diving. He was also the secondary contact for the nationally-ranked women's basketball team, which made a pair of Sweet 16 appearances during his tenure.
While at Rutgers, numerous features on Semonavick’s teams and student-athletes appeared in national media outlets, including ESPN.com, NCAA.com, Sports Illustrated, HBO Real Sports, ABC’s Nightline and ESPN The Magazine.
He earned his degree in English/Journalism from the University of Delaware in May of 2005. While at Delaware, he worked for three years as a reporter for the award-winning student newspaper, The Review, and served as co-producer and host of the Hen Zone, a weekly UD sports television show.
An outstanding tennis player, Semonavick served as team captain and led Caesar Rodney High School to the Delaware state team title in 2001. He also played in four Club National Campus Tennis Championships representing the University of Delaware, leading the squad to a Top 10 national finish in 2002 at Austin, Texas.
