June 29, 2001
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Three key positions in Purdue University Intercollegiate Athletics have been filled, a staff member will take a new assignment and another will leave the university.
Dr. Andrea Pana has been hired as team physician, Elliot Bloom as assistant sports information director and Sue Bayley as cheerleading coach. In addition, Jim Vruggink, formerly director of media and public relations, has assumed the role of director of special projects in the Office of University Relations. Tony Greco, sports information assistant, has announced his resignation to become assistant sports information director at Virginia.
Pana comes to Purdue from Santa Barbara, Calif., where she worked in family practice and sports medicine since 1998. Before that, she served at the Family Practice Clinic of MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., from 1994 to 1997. A 1987 magna cum laude graduate of George Washington, Pana earned her bachelor's degree in zoology. She was awarded her doctorate from George Washington in 1991. Pana is board certified and a member of both the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. She will assist senior team physician Mike Krauss in the treatment of all student-athletes.
Bloom is a 1999 Purdue graduate who worked in the athletic public relations and communications office for four years while earning his degree in communication. He went on to serve as a graduate assistant at Kansas in 1999-2000 before serving as assistant sports information director at Duke in 2000-01. At Duke, he worked with baseball and volleyball teams and was assistant contact for men's basketball, which won the 2001 national championship. Bloom will serve as the primary contact for men's basketball and men's and women's golf, while assisting sports information director Tom Schott with football.
Bayley is a Purdue alumna, graduating in 1991 with a bachelor's degree in elementary education. She was a four-year member of the cheerleading squad and also served on the student athletic board. Bayley has nine years of coaching experience: Benton Central High School (Oxford, Ind.) from 1998 to 2001, McClintock High School (Tempe, Ariz.) in 1996, Marcos de Niza High School (Tempe, Ariz.) from 1994 to 1996, Barry Goldwater High School (Phoenix) from 1992 to 1994 and Harrison High School (Tippecanoe, Ind.) in 1991 and 1992. While at Benton Central, Bayley's squads were back-to-back regional champions with eight-place finishes in the state of Indiana. Her 1994 Barry Goldwater team placed fourth in the Arizona state cheerleading competition.
Vruggink, a 19-year veteran of the department, will retain specific duties within intercollegiate athletics, including coordination of the JumboTron video board in Ross-Ade Stadium, team banquets and serving on the Hall of Fame committee.
Greco joined the department last summer and worked with the men's basketball, baseball, golf and wrestling teams. A search in under way for his replacement.