ON THE HILL
SHINE: CJ SIEWERT ’11 Young Alum. Lifelong Sports Lover. TECHNOLOGY DRIVES CHANGE IN COVERAGE. A LOVE OF GUSTAVUS SPORTS DRIVES COMMUNITY.
A Saint Peter native, Siewert says he “basically grew up at Lund.” He’s not exaggerating; his mom worked at the information desk. “Almost every day I’d rent out a basketball and shoot around,” he says. “This was home for me.” While a Gustie student, professor Terry Morrow recommended an internship in the Gustavus sports information office, which led to two internships with the Minnesota Vikings, covering all aspects of the team for the website and public relations team. Then, like a lot of sports writers, Siewert bounced around. He came home to Lund in 2015 as the Gustavus director of sports information. “As a kid, I would read the newspaper box scores and calculate what the Twins needed to clinch a spot in the playoffs,” he says. Now, he brings that detailed obsession to Gustavus’s 23 varsity sports. He strongly believes in the Gustavus mission, core values, sense of community, and the high performance of student-athletes. “Throughout our history, we have shown excellence on the playing field and in the classroom. I want people to know.” Five years into the job and Siewert has already ushered in major change in Gustavus sports coverage. For instance: how the College livestreams events. It used to be a single camera plugged into a computer with a play-by-play announcer. Now, he says. “We use high-definition video with replay, multiple cameras, and live statistics.” And social media keeps the conversation going 24–7. The love for sports—and the Gustie community— remains unchanged and abiding. So does the Donut Friday tradition in the sports information office. “It’s important to take time to just talk to people about life,” he says. In Lund, “that almost always circles back to a
GUSTAVUS QUARTERLY
COVID-19 forced a sadly truncated spring season. (See
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page 22.) But as they say in sports, there’s always next year. “There’s a lot of excitement,” Siewert says. Some of that surrounds the expansion and renovation of Lund Center, of course. “I really think we’ll have one of the finest Division III facilities in the country,” he says.
COMMUNITY
passion for sports.”
