Department of Athletics
 Bill Maher
Director of Athletics
Named Director of Athletics in May 2005, Bill Maher is in his third year back in the Blue and Gold.
Since taking over at Canisius, 10 athletic teams won conference or regional championships, with the softball team advancing to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past two seasons, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament 10 times in the last 14 seasons. The 2008 men's lacrosse team advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history and won a share of the regular-season MAAC Championship for the second time in three seasons. The 2008 baseball program earned a share of the regular-season title for the first time in 14 years and advanced to the MAAC Tournament for the second consecutive season while setting a school record with 41 victories. The 2006 volleyball team set a program record for victories. The synchronized swimming program won its 11th consecutive ECAC Championship in 2008. During the past three seasons, 63 student-athletes have earned all-league honors, 16 have won conference player or rookie of the year awards and 29 were voted to all-tournament teams.
On the academic level from 2005 to 2007, 141 student-athletes were named to the MAAC All-Academic Honor Roll, while 24 hockey players made the Atlantic Hockey All-Academic Team and eight synchronized swimmers were honored as U.S. Synchro Academic All-Americans. During the past three years, Canisius has had seven student-athletes recognized on the district level as ESPN The Magazine CoSIDA All-Academic.
A Canisius graduate and former assistant athletic director at the school, Maher spent seven years at the University at Buffalo and served as the Bulls’ interim athletic director from 2003-05.
During his tenure as the interim athletic director at Buffalo, Maher helped UB Athletics oversee $3.6 million in capital improvements to its athletic facilities, restructure the school’s Blue & White Club fund drive for athletics, which generated $1 million during the 2003-04 season, and develop marketing campaigns which increased attendance at athletic events.
He also oversaw the development of the men’s basketball program, which set a school record for victories and earned the first postseason bid in school history with an invitation to the 2005 National Invitation Tournament. Under his watch, the Bulls' RPI increased from 284 in 2003 to as high as 34 during the 2004-05 season.
Maher was a four-year letterwinner on the Canisius College football team from 1985-88 and earned All-America honorable mention honors as a senior. He received his bachelor’s degree in physical education from Canisius in 1989 and his master’s degree in sport management from East Stroudsburg University in 1990. Following an internship with the New York Knicks, Maher returned to Canisius in 1991, becoming the assistant athletic director for compliance in 1994.
He became the director of compliance at the University at Buffalo in 1998, where he moved up the ranks and was named senior associate athletic director in 2002. In that role, he managed the day-to-day operations of the Division of Athletics, including the direct supervision of Buffalo’s football and men’s and women’s basketball programs, in addition to the office of compliance and the office of student-athlete services.
Maher resides in East Amherst with his wife, Kristin, and sons, Danny and David.
Traci Murphy
Associate Athletic Director
Senior Women's Administrator
Traci Murphy enters her third season as Associate Athletic Director and Senior Women’s Administrator for the Golden Griffins. Murphy joins the Canisius staff after spending seven seasons at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
Murphy is responsible for all NCAA rules enforcement of Canisius’ 16 Division I athletic programs in addition to all areas of student-athlete welfare. She supervises compliance, academic counseling, strength and conditioning and athletic training. She also oversees the CHAMPS/Life Skills program, and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).
Murphy is the sport supervisor for women's soccer, men's soccer, women's cross country, men's cross country, softball and golf. She serves on MAAC committees for Athletic Administration, Finance, Gender and Minority Issues, and chairs the MAAC Swimming and Diving Committe. She also organizes the annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) at Canisius and helped found the WNY Girls in Sports Program. The program, in collaboration with the City of Buffalo Public Schools, area colleges and universities, the Bills and Girl Scout Council, focuses specifically on young girls (ages 9-12) and their involvement in sports.
Murphy began her career in 1992 as associate head athletic trainer at St Mary's and moved to ULM in 1998. She added the responsibility of senior woman administrator in 2001 which involved the monitoring of women’s sports and mentoring the SAAC.
In July 2003, she was promoted to the position of director of academics, compliance and student-athlete services. Murphy worked to develop and implement an enhanced academic development and compliance program for ULM's student-athletes and the athletics department. Prior to ULM, Murphy served five years as the head athletic trainer at St. Mary's College of Maryland.
She is a 1989 graduate of West Chester University with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education. In 1992, she earned a master's degree in health education from the University of Arkansas.
The Maryland native and her husband, Pat, have two children, Sean (6) and Sarah (2).
 John Maddock
Associate Athletic Director
External Affairs
John Maddock is in his 27th year with Canisius College athletics and his 11th as associate athletic director for external affairs. Originally hired as the Golden Griffins’ sports information director, the native of Washington, Ill., was named an assistant athletic director prior to the 1987-88 season and moved into his current position in 1997. Maddock is responsible for corporate partnerships, marketing and promotions, licensing, the Blue & Gold Club and ticket sales.
The 52-year-old Maddock oversaw the operation of the department of athletics during Spring 2005 before Bill Maher was named the director of athletics. Maddock also assisted the MAAC with plans for its 25th Anniversary celebration during the 2005-06 athletic season.
He chaired the search committee for the Griffs’ head football coach in 2000 and men’s soccer coach in 1998. He serves on the Hall of Fame and the MLK Awards Selection Committees and oversaw the development of the athletic department’s current logo. He was also instrumental in planning the season-long 100-year anniversary celebration for men’s basketball in 2003-04.
Maddock arrived at Canisius in July 1981 after spending two-and-a-half years as the administrative assistant to the athletic director at Brockport State College. Prior to his job at Brockport, he was the ticket manager for the Atlanta Braves Triple-A farm club in Richmond, Va.
A graduate of Western Illinois University, Maddock received his bachelor’s degree in recreation and park administration in 1976 and his master’s degree in athletic administration in 1978. In addition to his duties at Canisius, Maddock is an active member of the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) and the former chair of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Committee on Committees. He also served on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Committee.
Maddock spent two seasons as the public relations director for the North Atlantic Conference and served as the host for the 1990 ECAC-SIDA conference at the Buffalo Hilton. He chaired the Baseball Committee for the 1993 World University Games and was the assistant media coordinator for the 2000 NCAA Division I men’s basketball opening round games played at Buffalo’s HSBC Arena.
Maddock was honored in 1998 by ECAC-SIDA with the Irving T. Marsh Award for contributions, dedication and excellence in the field of collegiate sports information.
John and his wife, Priscilla, reside in Snyder with their daughters Mackenzie and Mikaela.
 Judith Russo Caserta
Atheltic Business Manager
Judith Russo Caserta begins her 19th year at Canisius College and is responsible for the day-to-day business operations of the athletic department, including overseeing the individual budgets of the 16 Golden Griffin athletic teams, monitoring the Blue & Gold Booster Club, providing compensation for officials and serving as liaison with the College's business office.
Caserta served as the Golden Griffins’ senior women’s administrator from 1997-2000 and oversaw the compilation of the NCAA Equity Athletics Disclosure Act information each of those years.
After graduating from Canisius in 1980, Caserta was the business manager of the family-owned Russo Chevrolet dealership until the business was sold in 1988. Caserta was hired as the Director of Accounting at Canisius in 1989 and was named the Athletic Business Manager the following year. During her tenure at the College, Caserta has served in many roles and capacities, including chairperson of the MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Committee and the MAAC Finance Committee.
Caserta graduated from Canisius in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and has over 25 years of accounting, organizational and management experience. She enrolled in the master's of sport administration program at Canisius in 2003 and completed her internship as the General Chair of the 46th annual Porter Cup golf tournament. Away from Canisius, Caserta enjoys spending time with her family, golfing, cooking and singing the National Anthem at local sporting events. She resides in Youngstown, N.Y., with her husband, Tom (’77), and teenage son, Anthony.
Matt Reitnour
Director of Athletic Communications
Matt Reitnour is entering his seventh year as a member of the Canisius College Athletic Communications staff and first year as the director of the department. He is the primary media contact for the school’s men's basketball, men's soccer and softball teams.
Reitnour started at Canisius as the graduate assistant in the athletic communications office before being promoted to full-time status in 2003. He worked as the media escort for Jim Boeheim at the 2003 NCAA Men’s Basketball East Regional in Albany, N.Y., for Bob Knight, Jim Calhoun and Phil Martelli at the 2004 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament First and Second rounds and Mike Krzyzewski and Todd Lickliter in 2007 in Buffalo, N.Y. He also worked on the official statistics crew at the 2003 Frozen Four in Buffalo and on the NCAA media relations staff for the men's basketball Syracuse Regional in 2005.
The Zionsville, Pa., native came to Buffalo after earning his bachelor’s degree in communications from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. While at Wilkes, he served as a student assistant in the school’s sports information office for four years. Reitnour was the sports director for the school’s radio station as a senior and did play-by-play and color analysis for the station’s coverage of the Wilkes baseball team for three years in addition to acting as director of the school’s weekly football highlight program. Prior to his senior year at Wilkes, Reitnour served as a media relations intern with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He also worked as a writer for The Citizen’s Voice, a daily newspaper in Wilkes-Barre where he covered high school and college football, basketball and wrestling.
Reitnour earned his master’s degree in sport administration from Canisius in May 2004. He is a member of College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors Association (ECAC-SIDA). Since the summer of 2006, Reitnour has served as a professor in the Master of Sport Administration program.
 Matt Lozar
Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
Matt Lozar enters his third year in the athletic communications department, his second in a full-time role. He was the graduate assistant during the 2005-06 athletic season and moved into his current position in July 2006. Lozar serves as the contact for the Golden Griffins’ women's basketball, volleyball, baseball and swimming and diving programs.
Lozar worked as a coach escort for Jamie Dixon, Anthony Grant and Gary Williams at the 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball First and Second Rounds in Buffalo, N.Y. For the 2006 MAAC Men's Lacrosse Championship held at Canisius, Lozar served as the media coordinator and statistician. Lozar also designed the media guide for the hockey program for the 2006-07 season.
A native of Willoughby Hills, Ohio, Lozar earned his bachelor’s degree in management information systems from the University of Notre Dame in May 2005. At Notre Dame, Lozar was the editor-in-chief of the school’s student newspaper, The Observer, during his senior year. In his four years working at the paper, Lozar covered a variety of sports, including football, men’s basketball, the NCAA champion fencing team, volleyball, softball and baseball.
During the summer of 2005, Lozar was a Frank and Peggy Steele Intern at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. Working in the web department, Lozar covered a number of events at the Hall of Fame while also producing a weekly newsletter and working on a project to create a public service announcement promoting the internship program.
Lozar earned his Master of Sport Administration degree in May 2007. He is a member of College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and the Eastern College Athletic Conference Sports Information Directors Association (ECAC-SIDA).
Jason Veniskey
Assistant Director of Athletic Communications
Jason Veniskey is in his first year as an assistant director on the athletic communications staff at Canisius College. Veniskey is responsible for promoting the College's women's soccer, ice hockey, men's lacrosse and women's lacrosse programs.
Veniskey joins the Canisius staff after serving a one-year term as a full-time intern in the athletic communications department at Syracuse University. While at Syracuse, the Rochester, N.Y., native was the primary contact for the school's volleyball, cross country/track & field, women's rowing and women's lacrosse teams, while also serving as the secondary contact for the Orange's football and women's basketball teams. He helped coordinate Syracuse's student-staff for home football and women's basketball games and also acted as the host Sports Information Director at the 2007 BIG EAST Women's Lacrosse Championship in the Carrier Dome.
A 2006 graduate of Ithaca College, Veniskey earned his bachelor's degree in sports information and communications. While at Ithaca, he served as a student assistant for two years and covered men's soccer, men's basketball and men's lacrosse.
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