2011 Baseball - Creighton University Bluejays

The dean of MVC Athletic Directors and a2008 inductee into the Omaha Sports Hall ofFame, Bruce Rasmussen enters his 17th yearas director of athletics, and 31st overall atCreighton University.During his tenure, Creighton has risen toprominence with its success on-and-off thefield, impressive facilities and record-breakingfundraising efforts.For evidence, look no further than three projectsthat are changing the area athletics scenefor years to come. The Wayne and Eileen RyanAthletic Center and D.J. Sokol Arena openedlast fall and immediately gave Creighton’swomen’s basketball and volleyball teams atop-notch facility to call home. East of theRyan Athletic Center will be Creighton’s newstudent recreation center that was named theRasmussen Center in his honor and will standas one of the centerpieces on the Creightoncampus. Last but not least is the completionof TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, where Bluejaybaseball and the College World Series willplay starting in 2011.Those projects add to an overhaul inthe school’s athletic facilities over the pastdecade, which has also seen Creighton beginplay at two of the finest facilities nationwide– Michael G. Morrison, S.J., Stadium (soccer)and Qwest Center Omaha (men’s basketball).Since Rasmussen assumed the role ofAthletics Director, Creighton has won 19 regular-seasonand 27 conference tournamenttitles, which have helped lead to 51 postseasonappearances. The Bluejays are the onlyschool in the 104-year history of the MissouriValley Conference to make 13 straight men’sbasketball postseasons.Creighton has also been recognized withthe MVC All-Academic Award in five of thepast six seasons, including a record 3.35 GPAlast spring by student-athletes.The Creighton softball team has madesix NCAA Tournament appearances inthe last eight years, while the men’s soccersquad has reached 17 of the past 18NCAA Tournaments.A member of the College World Seriesof Omaha, Inc., Executive Committee,Rasmussen continues to play a vital role inCreighton and the city of Omaha remainingas host of the College World Series. He wasone of six individuals on the CWS OversightCommittee that helped decide the locationfor the new downtown TD Ameritrade ParkOmaha, which will help keep the CWS intown for another 25 years.With Creighton serving as host, the CWShas established new attendance records insix of the past eight years at RosenblattStadium.Rasmussen was one of four regional winnersfrom the National Association of CollegiateDirectors of Athletics (NACDA) to take home a2004 GeneralSports TURF Systems AD of theYear Award.In terms of academics, Creighton’s reputationas one of the nation’s top academic institutionsis reflected in the success the Bluejaystudent-athletes have had in the classroomduring Rasmussen’s service as athletics director.Creighton’s baseball, men’s basketball,women’s basketball, volleyball, men’s andwomen’s cross country, women’s soccer andmen’s and women’s tennis teams all havereceived national awards for their academicsuccess. Bluejay student-athletes consistently2011 BaseballDirector of Athletics Bruce Rasmussenown GPA’s of 3.25 or above.Creighton’s primary annual athletics fundraisingevents are the Bluejay Bash and theBluejay Jamboree. Under Rasmussen’s supervision,each of these events continues toraise record-breaking funds for Creightonathletics. Most notably, the 2009 Jamboreegenerated more than $350,000 through itsgourmet dinner, raffle and auction.Rasmussen accepted the associate athleticsdirector position in 1992 after a 12-yearrun as the winningest coach in Creightonwomen’s basketball history (196-147), culminatingin the program’s historic 1991-92season.The 1992 Western Athletic ConferenceCoach of the Year, Rasmussen led the 1991-92 Bluejay women to a program-record 28wins (28-4), the WAC regular-season andtournament championships and a first-roundNCAA Tournament victory in the program’sfirst-ever trip to the “Big Dance.” With that28-4 record in 1991-92, Rasmussen completedhis college coaching career with a 196-147record, good for a .571 winning percentage.After serving as associate athletics directorfor two years, 1992-94, Rasmussen wasnamed athletics director on Aug. 1, 1994.A native of Webster City, Iowa, Rasmussenand his wife, Jill, have five children: Megan(25), David (23), John (19), Katy (15) and Grace(12).Creighton Baseball Meet the Staff Meet the Players Opponents 2010 in Review Records and History This is Creighton97