Director of Intercollegiate Athletics
The fifth Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at UTA since 1953, Pete Carlon is in his 12th year as the department's director after serving twice as the interim athletics director.
Carlon has been with the university since 1981, when he came to UTA from Stephen F. Austin to become the head athletic trainer. He served as assistant or associate athletics director from 1984 until he was named athletics director permanently.
During Carlon's first tenure as athletics director in 1991-92, UTA won five team conference titles and was ranked by the Women's Sports Foundation as the second best Division I program in the nation in terms of commitment to gender equity.
During the 1996-97 year, in Carlon's first year as the permanent Athletic Director, the Mavericks claimed both the men's and women's Southland Conference All-Sports trophy, a first in the history of the UTA athletic program. In 1998-99, UTA again claimed both the men's and women's All-Sports Championship and won the SLC Commissioner's Cup in its second year of existence. The Commissioner's Cup recognizes the conference's best overall athletics program. In all, UTA has won two Commissioner's Cups in Carlon's first six years as A.D., and has finished among the top three schools in the race for the Cup each of the five years it has been awarded. The Mavericks have won 31 team conference championships during Carlon's tenure as Athletics Director.
In 1997-98, Carlon teamed with University President Dr. Robert Witt to join forces with student and faculty leaders to spearhead the campaign for a referendum on a Student Intercollegiate Athletics Fee. This student athletics fee won overwhelming support from the student body and was enacted by the state legislature and then-Governor George W. Bush in 1999. This source of funding assures UTA a financially secure future for its intercollegiate athletics program.
Carlon has placed a special emphasis on maintaining an environment of academic excellence for UTA student-athletes. Numerous academic support services and programs have been implemented to assist each student-athlete in their academic endeavors. Over 45 percent of UTA student-athletes achieve honor roll status each semester with at least a 3.0 grade point average, and 84 percent of UTA student-athletes who complete their eligibility at the school have earned their degree. This year is the fifth year in which UTA Athletics is involved with the NCAA CHAMPS/Life Skills program, which provides Maverick student-athletes opportunities for life enriching leadership experiences, community service and life skills training.
During his 12 year tenure as head athletic trainer, Carlon served as president of the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association in 1987-88, was a member of the Southwest Athletic Trainers Association (SWATA) Executive Board, and served two terms on the national board of directors for the National Athletic Trainers Association. Carlon received one of the highest honors presented by the organization when he was named recipient of the NATA Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer Award in 1997. In 1989, Carlon was presented the Frank Medina Award for service to athletic training and mankind, and has twice (1988 and 1996) earned the Eddie Wojecki Award for service to SWATA. In 1999, he was inducted into the SWATA Hall of Fame.
As UTA's athletic director, Carlon has served on the Southland Conference Honors and Awards, Strategic Planning, Championship and Marketing and Television Committees. As vice president of the Southland Conference, he is a member of the league's Executive Committee, and also serves on the compliance committee and officiating committee. Carlon just completed a two-year term as secretary/treasurer of the Southland Conference and chair of the Finance Committee. Nationally, Carlon just completed a four-year term on the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports as well as the Subcommittee for Drug Education and Testing. He also is an active participant in the NCAA Athletics Certification process having served on NCAA Peer Review Teams evaluating five other Division I institutions, and is scheduled to make two more peer review visits in 2002-03.
Carlon earned a Bachelor's degree from Iowa State University in 1975 and received his Master's degree from Northwest Missouri State University in 1976. He began his professional career at Arlington James Bowie High School in 1976 as a teacher and athletic trainer, and was the school's "Teacher of the Year" in 1978. Carlon and his wife Beth, who is an elementary school administrator in the Irving ISD, are both natives of Gowrie, Iowa.
DR. BARRY MCKEOWN
Institutional Representative to the NCAA
Bio to come.
DR. BILL REEVES
Deputy Athletics Director/Eligibility Certification Officer
The senior member of the UTA athletic staff, Dr. Bill Reeves has been associated with the Mavericks since earning the first of his three varsity letters in basketball during the 1959-60 season. A 1962 UTA graduate, Reeves returned to UTA in 1966 to assume the duties of assistant basketball coach and instructor of physical education. In 1971 he was named administrative assistant to the athletic director, which led to the announcement on April 27, 1975 naming him director of intercollegiate athletics. Today, Dr. Reeves serves not only as the deputy athletics director, but is the department's eligibility certification officer, supervises academic enhancement and monitors the academic progress of all UTA student-athletes.
Dr. Reeves earned his Master's degree in 1964 from Southwest Texas State University and his Ph.D. in higher education administration from North Texas State University in 1973.
JOHN MOCEK
Senior Associate Athletics Director for Finance and Administration
A former UT-Arlington student-athlete, John Mocek brings 30 years of administrative experience to his role as Senior Associate Athletics Director for Finance and Administration. A four-year baseball letterwinner and 1977 UTA graduate, Mocek has worn many hats since 1978, including the department's business and operations manager, promotions director, radio and TV broadcaster, ticket and events manager and between 1983 and 1996 was the third base coach for one of the most successful baseball teams in the NCAA. In addition, he has been a member of the UTA faculty, teaching advanced techniques of coaching baseball and the history and business of baseball in UTA's Department of Kinesiology. He also serves as an official scorer for Major League Baseball at Texas Rangers games.
TONY BURKEN
Associate Athletics Director for Business and Operations
Tony Burken is in his sixth year at UTA, his first as associate athletics director for business and operations.
He is responsible for facility and maintenance scheduling, student housing and daily operations.
Burken was a graduate teaching assistant at Emporia State University. Prior to Emporia State, Burken was a former physical education teacher at Sacred Heart School in Emporia.
A 1989 graduate of Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo., he taught at Joplin South Middle School before moving on to serve as the assistant baseball coach at Hutchinson Community College from 1991-94. In 1994, he was the assistant baseball coach at Dodge City Community College and in 1995 he was the director of residence life at DCCC.
Burken completed his master's degree in educational administration in 1999 at Emporia State.
Burken and his wife, Courtney, have a daughter, Stephanie, 7.