By Jeff Yoder
The Taylor-Indiana Wesleyan rivalry is, well, unrivaled by any other teams in the Crossroads League. From time to time, some individuals get to experience both sides of the competition. New Taylor Sports Information Director Seth Mikel is one of those individuals.
"It's weird. It's a little bit odd for me," Mikel said. "Being a student-athlete at Indiana Wesleyan, there's obviously the rivalry, but for me, there was always a respect for Taylor as a University and what it stands for."
Mikel earned a bachelor's degree in Sport Management at Indiana Wesleyan (IWU) and graduated in 2003. In his time there, he played baseball while serving as a student sports information assistant with his roommate, Kyle Schmidt. Schmidt is now the Sports Information Director at IWU.
Mikel grew up in Etna Green, Ind., with three older sisters and played high school baseball at Tippecanoe Valley. He's a passionate St. Louis Cardinals fan as well as a fan of North Carolina basketball and Notre Dame football.
Since graduating from IWU in 2003, Mikel spent three years as an assistant sports information director at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C. While he was there he earned a master's degree in Sports Science and Pedagogy.
Mikel then left Gardner-Webb to be the Sports Information Director (SID) at Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio. He was incharge of the recreation of Defiance's website while starting Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts for their athletic department.
"Gardner-Webb was when I really fell in love with (sports information) because I wasn't doing it 15 hours a week, I was doing it 50 hours a week," Mikel said. "If you can do something that much and be that happy then it's probably what you should be doing."
Mike officially started at Taylor on March 18. As SID, he will be responsible for the promotion and marketing of Taylor's athletic programs as well as serving as the main contact for national and local media.
Mikel, his wife Keely and their two children, Austin (4) and Mackenna (2), currently live in a house just south of IWU's campus. Mikel says he can see IWU's athletic fields, mainly the baseball diamond, from his backyard.
Once a Wildcat, now a Trojan, the new SID says his history with IWU won't affect his newfound passion for Taylor.
"I've only been here two weeks and I've already seen that it's a good place and a place I'm excited about and proud to be a part of," Mikel said.
