Kelly Grgas-Wheeler Named UMD Director of Athletic Communications

Grgas-Wheeler has worn many different hats since starting with Bulldog Athletics almost 17 years ago.

DULUTH, Minn.- On Friday, the UMD Athletics department named a Kelly Grgas-Wheeler as the Director of Athletic Communications and Media Relations.

Grgas-Wheeler has worn many different hats in her time with Bulldog Athletics. She’s served as the men’s and women’s basketball contact, the women’s hockey communications director for the past 16 years, acted as the communications director in three NCAA Frozen Fours hosted at AMSOIL, as well as a pair of WCHA post season events. Kelly has even been the assistant coach of the women’s soccer team since 2004.

Now she turns her attention to the department as a whole reach the 14 varsity programs at UMD and tell the stories of the Bulldogs as they playout in real time.

Grgas-Wheeler says it’s a bittersweet transition but she’s excited to get started.

“It is really exciting to be a part of other programs, outside of soccer and women’s hockey, I got a little taste of it with women’s basketball last year, but it’ll be just really fun to be a part of the whole department. I feel like we have stories to tell and just want these student-athletes and these staffs to be amplified–What they bring to UMD, but also to Duluth and I can’t wait to get going on that,” says Grgas-Wheeler.

Grgas-Wheeler begins her position at the end of the month.