Christendom College’s Patrick Quest has been named the USCAA’s Garth Pleasant Athletic Director of the Year. Quest, who has served as Christendom’s athletic director for nearly a decade, earned the honors after helping lead Christendom Athletics to a historic year, which included a National Championship, multiple National Championship tournament berths, and over 50 student-athletes earning Academic All-American honors.
Since Quest became athletic director at Christendom in 2015, the athletics department has experienced great success, including three national championships, five national championship runners-up, and 333 student-athletes named Academic All-Americans and 83 named All-Americans. This past year was perhaps the best year yet for Christendom Athletics under Quest’s leadership, capped off by the women’s basketball team upsetting the USCAA National Championship tournament to walk away with their first national championship in school history. In addition to this stunning achievement, the men’s rugby team competed in both the National Collegiate Rugby 15s and 7s national championship tournaments, the women’s soccer team competed in the USCAA national championship tournament, the women’s cross-country team finished third in the nation at USCAA Nationals, and multiple other varsity teams finished the year with winning records.
This great success on the field was matched in the classroom, with Christendom’s varsity sports teams achieving a cumulative GPA of 3.51— including the national championship-winning women’s basketball team leading the way with a team GPA of 3.81. 50 total student-athletes qualified for Academic All-American honors as well, with these students showing the ability to prioritize their studies and balance commitments — a trademark of Christendom’s athletic program.
Quest’s award from the USCAA.
Quest was instrumental in all of these successes, with his tireless work, sacrifices, and vision helping bring Christendom Athletics to this point in its history. For all of this hard work, the USCAA honored him with the Athletic Director of the Year award, along with naming him to the USCAA Board of Directors.
“I am extremely thankful, grateful, and humbled to receive the Athletic Director of the Year award from the USCAA,” says Quest. “I thank God for the opportunities he has given me and blessed me with. Throughout my life and career, I have been blessed by so many people. Whether it was my parents, Pauline and Dan, instilling in my siblings and me the need to work hard and to the best of our ability in all that we do, or my coaches challenging and pushing my teammates and me to raise the bar so we can achieve our goals, or the mentors in my life that have listened, encouraged, and continue to support me today. I would especially like to thank my beautiful wife Kelsey for her support, Coach John McNeley, Captain Ted Smedberg, and Dr. Mark Clark for their mentorship, and Coach Tom Vander Woude for his never-ending patience and encouragement, for his support after I graduated from Christendom, and ultimately for his example of heroism on September 8, 2008.”
Quest also expressed gratitude to the college’s previous athletics directors for laying the foundation for the department’s future successes, to the college’s entire administration for their support, to the parents who have entrusted the athletics department with their sons and daughters, and especially to the college’s coaches, student gym staff, and student-athletes for their hard work, dedication, and sacrifices for “the love of the game and the glory of God.”
“To all those that have supported Christendom and our athletic program, thank you,” concluded Quest.
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