St. Francis Athletics
JOLIET – The University of St. Francis Athletic Department has announced the hiring of CJ Selner as its director of athletic communications. Selner replaces Joe Gorby, who left the position in December.
Prior to coming to St. Francis, Selner worked in the Concordia University Chicago sports information office for eight-plus years, starting as a student assistant in August of 2012. He was eventually elevated to the graduate assistant position in December 2015 before taking on the department’s lead role as the athletic communications director for three-plus years through October, 2020.
At Concordia, Selner served as the point person for all communication aspects of the department including managing the Cougars’ website and social media accounts, and providing video editing and production work. He also creatively crafted the department’s social media strategy. His other responsibilities included designing infographics for all 16 sports and keeping statistics for all home events.
“We are pleased to have CJ join our staff,” said USF director of athletics Dave Laketa. “He brings a lot of experience and talents to the position, especially in graphic design, social media and livestreaming, three areas where we really want to grow our program moving forward.
“He also has a solid handle on all the intricacies of the many statistics that need to be kept.”
Selner’s expertise in the areas of both statistics and social media have led to him serving in various capacities. He was asked to be on a NCAA live stats football beta test group and also was a lead social media presenter on “Tools To Work Smarter, Not Harder” at the NCAA III Midwest Sports Information Directors Conference.
Other areas in which Selner has excelled include handling both play-by-play and color analyst responsibilities for football, basketball, baseball and softball. He has also served as the official scorer for the Chicago Dogs and Schaumburg Boomers, two independent baseball teams in the Chicagoland area.
“I would like to thank Dave Laketa and the search committee for giving me this opportunity,” remarked Selner. “This is a great institution with a history of success. I am very excited to provide the student-athletes, Fighting Saints fans and alumni with a first-class experience in the digital and social realms going forward.”
As a student at Concordia, Selner was a four-year letterwinner in the baseball program. A crafty left-handed pitcher, he compiled a 12-5 career record with one save in 34 appearances, 25 of which were starts. He also struck out 107 batters in 153 innings of work.
The Opening Day starter in each of his final two seasons, Selner was a key player in the Cougars success over his four-year career, where the team went a combined 144-43 and advanced to the NCAA III regionals each year.
Selner earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Concordia, beginning with a communications degree in 2015 and his master’s in business administration in 2018.
He and his wife, Allie, reside in Lake in the Hills, Ill.