CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Southern Utah Director of Athletics Debbie Corum has announced a number of staff promotions for the 2019-20 athletic season. 

"As we enter another year I feel like we're in a really good place in terms of which people we have in what positions in the department," Corum said. "I'm excited about the changes we've made and am looking forward to seeing how these people thrive in their new roles."  

Todd Brown has transitioned into a new role for the Thunderbirds, serving as the department's Deputy Athletic Director/Director of Sports Medicine. 

Both Nate Lower and Mikayla Thielges are back with Southern Utah, being promoted to Associate Directors of the program. Stephanie Flanagan and John Lee fill out the staff in the training room for the Thunderbirds. 

"We had some restructuring to do in terms of sports medicine, but we're so excited that Todd has agreed to return to his roots and take over the department," Corum said. "Our student-athletes are in excellent hands with the staff we have in place, and I'm so grateful to all five of them for the hard work they put in."   

Shon Spevak, who was previously SUU's Assistant AD for Ticket Revenue, is now the Executive Senior Associate AD for Revenue Generation. Spevak has been involved with Southern Utah Athletics since 2003. 

"Shon has been around all our programs for a long time, and he's more than deserving of an advanced placement in our department," Corum said. "He will be a vital piece to building this place to what it's capable of being." 

Jeff Tukuafu has been moved into the role of Assistant AD for Alumni Relations/Football Operations after serving as the department's Assistant AD for Operations/Facilities since joining the department from the football staff. 

"Jeff is so valuable to us when it comes to making connections with alumni, and has done a great job working alongside our development team," Corum said. "Obviously we don't want him to get too removed from football, but we're looking forward to seeing him be able to continue to build our alumni relations in the years to come." 

With Brown now overseeing athletic training, Jameson Porter has been promoted to Assistant AD for Compliance after serving as the Director of Compliance. 

"In a single year Jameson learned so much and I am so comfortable turning compliance over to him," Corum said. "He works so hard and is such an asset to this department."  

Bryson Lester has been promoted to SUU's Assistant AD for Communication/Marketing, taking a more involved role is Southern Utah's promotional and social media efforts. 

Filling Lester's role as Director of Strategic Communication is Kyle Birnbrauer, who has been with the department since July of 2016. Birnbrauer has worked with every single sport in some capacity in his time at SUU.  

"We've been very happy with the content being produced for this department, and both Bryson and Kyle have been a major part of those efforts," Corum said. "We're really looking forward to things that will come in the future out of their department." 

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