Biography
John Leisering has worked at Mercyhurst College for 20 years, the last nine as sports information director (SID). He assumed the new position of Director of Hockey Operations, Marketing and Fundraising in September 2006.
He began his Mercyhurst career as director of athletics, a position he held from 1986 to 1989. Two of the head coaches hired under his jurisdiction are still active at the college: men[apos]s varsity hockey coach Rick Gotkin and men[apos]s cross country coach Mike Fraley, both of whom were hired in 1988. In addition, two of the college[apos]s most successful sports were initiated during his three years as AD: women[apos]s soccer and men[apos]s varsity hockey, both of which started in 1987. Women[apos]s soccer reached the NCAA Division II Final Four in 1988, in just its second year of existence. Gotkin, meanwhile, has taken the men[apos]s hockey team to the NCAA championship playoffs five times. The highly successful Basketball Tip-Off Dinner was also initiated during Leisering[apos]s time as director of athletics. The dinner celebrated its 17th year in November 2004.
Leisering has served as the men[apos]s hockey SID since the program began. He was honored by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) for excellence in men[apos]s hockey publications in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999. He is a former member of the college senate and is a current member of the Mercyhurst Athletic Hall of Fame Committee, CoSIDA, and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors[apos] Association (ECAC-SIDA). He was recently honored with the Irving T. Marsh Award in June of 2005 at the 50th anniversary of ECAC-SIDA in Cape Cod.
From 1989 to 1997, Leisering worked as both the general manager of the college[apos]s radio station, WMCE, and as an instructor in the communication department. While at WMCE, he broadcast a number of college athletic events, including baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. Among his notable performances were NCAA men[apos]s hockey playoff games in 1991 and 1993 and women[apos]s basketball playoff games in 1994 and 1995. He has the distinction of calling the television play-by-play for the Mercyhurst men[apos]s hockey team[apos]s first trip to the NCAA Division I playoffs in 2001 when the Lakers bowed to powerful Michigan 4-3 at the West Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Leisering took over as the college[apos]s SID in July 1997. He oversaw the promotion and publicity of 25 varsity sports and nearly 700 student-athletes. Several of his former sports information assistants and/or student workers over the years became highly successful: assistant SID Craig Rybczynski (1997-98) moved to Rochester to work for both the Rochester professional hockey and lacrosse teams; Leisering[apos]s son, David (1999-2000), who helped in sports information while attending Mercyhurst, served two years as SID at the University of Findlay; assistant SID Aaron Chimenti (2002) left to become SID at Heidelberg College, Mark Fisher (2003 and 2004) left for the head SID position at Carnegie Mellon, and Ty Patton (2005) became an assistant SID at Appalachian State.
Leisering came to Erie in 1978 and worked in the news and/or sports departments for several Erie radio stations. He was public address announcer for the Erie Blades hockey team from 1978 to 1982 and did play-by-play for the subsequent Erie Golden Blades and the Erie Panthers. After coming to Erie, he completed his college education at Mercyhurst in 1981, graduating cum laude with a degree in business administration. He was also a Dean[apos]s List student.
Other notables during Leisering[apos]s career include:
* Veteran of the United States Air Force, 1967 to 1974; honorable discharge;studied Mandarin Chinese and German; overseas tours in Tapei, Taiwan; and Berlin, Germany.
* Inducted into Mercyhurst chapter of Delta Mu Delta, the national honor society in business administration, in 1985
* Numerous achievement awards while working in both the military and radio
* Member of the VFW, the BPOE, and the American Legion
* Boys[apos] Baseball Coach in Erie for 10 years
* Member of Erie Youth Hockey Board of Directors in late [apos]80s
* Member of the 2005 Erie Otters Memorial Cup Committee
Leisering and his wife, Katy, live in Erie and are the parents of three children. Doug graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1988. He lives in Punxsutawney, Pa., with wife Kim and daughter Courtney. David graduated from Mercyhurst College in 2001. He is married and now works for Corry Publishing in Erie. He and his wife, LuAnn, and newborn daughter, Hailey, live in Lawrence Park. Mary Ellen attended Mercyhurst College, worked four years in Sports Information, graduated with a degree in sport management in 2006, and is now an intern in the Sports Information office at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Phone: (814) 824-2525
Email: jleisering@mercyhurst.edu
