CUNYAC Staff & Officers

·	Zak Ivkovic
·	Dave Gansell
·	Harold Merritt
·	Linda Barley
·	Steve Kelly
·	Gregg Cohen
·	Kim Santoiemma
·	Yvette Martinez
·	Amy Gordon
·	Alex Pinsky
·	Greg Armstrong

Zak Ivkovic - Executive Director

After starting as the CUNY Athletic Conference's part-time Sports Information Director in 1990, Zarko Ivkovic, better known as Zak, has climbed the conference ladder and was promoted to Executive Director of the conference during the summer of 2004. While serving as Interim Executive Director and Associate Director for seven years and being responsible for organizing CUNYAC's 23 championship events, in addition to overseeing a successful public relations effort, he steps into the leadership role that will see the Athletic Conference reach new heights. His CUNY background suits him well to the new role. He studied Mass Media at Hunter College where he had an outstanding athletic career as an All-Conference selection in soccer for four years. He still holds the school's single season (9) and career (20) shutout marks as a goalkeeper. In his tenure at CUNYAC, Ivkovic has overseen the growth continue

Dave Gansell - Assistant Director / Director of Media Relations

Gansell joined the CUNYAC staff this past September after serving as the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. While at UMBC, Gansell contributed heavily to the communications' efforts of a 20-sport program that competes at the Division I level. He served as the primary contact for nine Retrievers' teams and helped maintain the athletic web site, produce publications, generate statistics, supervise game staff, and interact with the media and various conference offices. A 1995 graduate of UMBC, Gansell earned a bachelor's degree..continue

Harold Merritt, Staten Island - President, Senior Colleges

Now in his fifth year as the College of Staten Island's Director of Athletics and Athletic Facilities, Dr. Harold Merritt oversees the school's ten-sport intercollegiate athletics program, as well as the state of the art Sports and Recreation Center. Dr. Merritt has been involved in intercollegiate athletics at the collegiate level for over 25 years. Immediately prior to his arrival at CSI, he served as Athletic Director for the city of Houston, Texas. Before that, he coached Division I basketball Northern Arizona University for four seasons. A native of New York City, Dr. Merritt attended Columbus High School..continue

Linda R. Barley - Vice-President, Senior Colleges

Now in her sixth year as York College’s Director of Athletics, Dr. Barley oversees the college’s thirteen-sport intercollegiate athletic program and recreation and intramural programs. Dr. Barley has been a faculty member of York College since 1981. During her tenure with City University of New York, she has served in several capacities: as faculty in the Department of Health & Physical Education and Gerontological Studies & Services, Faculty Fellow at CUNY Central serving with the University Dean for Health Sciences, as Dean for Academic Affairs at York College, and most recently as Chair and Athletic Director at York College. Prior to joining the City University of New York, Dr. Barley served as a hospital administrator for the [then] Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn and Queens. ..continue

Steve Kelly - President, Community Colleges

Kelly is in his seventh year as the Athletic Director at Borough of Manhattan Community College and in his third year as Community College President. In his tenure at BMCC, the Panthers have won twelve CUNYAC Championships and sent four teams to the National Championships after winning Region XV titles, including the National runner-up women's basketball team in 2001. Similarly, the Downtown Manhattan School has won the Community College Commissioner's Cup the first five times it was awarded, beginning with the 1997-98 academic year, which was Kelly's first at the helm. ...continue

Gregg Cohen - Media Relations & Publications

Gregg Cohen, who began his career at CUNYAC in 1995 as an intern, is the editor and designer of all conference publications including the basketball tournament program, the CUNY Sports newsletters and the Year in Review. He also works on the day-to-day updates and weekly releases for all 23 CUNYAC championship sports. Gregg has been in CUNY for over a decade, first as a freshman at Brooklyn College before studying communications and history at Hunter College. He is an active member of both the ECAC and National (CoSIDA) Sports Information Associations, serving on the..continue

Kim Santoiemma - Assistant Director, Championships

Kim Santoiemma was added to CUNYAC staff in August of 2002. She is the first recipient of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Ethnic Minority and Women's Internship Grant Program. Kim assists in producing the weekly conference releases as well as assisting in the coordination of the 23 CUNYAC championships held throughout the year. Santoiemma is no stranger to the CUNYAC office having graduated from Lehman College in May 2002 with a B.A. in English with a specialization in Creative Writing and a minor in Secondary Education. She recently .continue

Yvette Martinez - Administrative Assistant

Yvette Martinez came to the CUNYAC office in September of 2002 as a college work study student while attending Bronx Community College. Martinez graduated in December of that year earning an Associates Degree in Business Administration with an option in Accounting. After the departure of long time CUNYAC staff member, Eileen Lyons, Yvette took on the administrative duties of the office. A resident of the Bronx, she is currently pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Business at Baruch College....continue

Amy Gordon - Marketing Director

Amy Gordon is a free-lance marketing consultant who has been assisting CUNYAC for the past seven years. Amy was the Director of Sales Promotion for Modell's Sporting Goods and was instrumental in getting Modell's to become a sponsor of CUNYAC. Since then, Amy started her free-lance career, many well-known metropolitan area companies and organizations have used her services in marketing, sales promotion, event coordination and sponsorship. She is currently the Director of Development at North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center, but will continue to handle private clients like ..continue

Alex Pinsky - Website Director

Alex Pinsky joined the CUNYAC staff in the summer of 2002 and has taken the website, www.cuny.edu/sports to new heights. He graduated from Lehman College in June 2001 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science, where he also received a Computer Science departmental honor. Alex currently is a tutor for the mathematics and science department at Lehman College where he works with students in various computer classes. Alex enjoys playing soccer, tennis, basketball and volleyball. Alex was born in Russia and immigrated to the United States in 1995 and now resides in the..continue

Greg Armstrong - CUNYAC Photographer

Greg enters his seventh season as the official photographer for the CUNY Athletic Conference and its 23 championship events. A professional photographer for the last 11 years, Greg is a full-time carpenter for the New York City Housing Authority for the past 20 years. He attended New York City College of Technology and ran track for the Yellow Jackets, in the late 70's. Greg, who specializes in sports photography, is a staff sports photographer for the Times Ledger (Queens) and meet photographer for the National Scholastic Track Championships. He resides in Springfield Gardens with wife .continue