Alumnus Brock Zinke hired as Mendota’s athletic director

As Brock Zinke got further into his career as an educator at Mendota High School, he started to think more about getting into administration.

This summer, the opportunity arose to do so at his alma mater.

Zinke, who has taught and coached at MHS since 2013, was hired as Mendota’s athletic director, replacing Steve Hanson, who left Mendota to take the same position at La Salle-Peru.

“It’s a really exciting step in my career,” Zinke said. “I never knew if this is the route I wanted to take, but as I moved through my career this is an option that seemed more likely. I’m super excited to fill this role because I really, truly love athletics here at Mendota.”

Zinke, a 2007 MHS graduate, said it was the right time for him to move into an administration position.

“Personally and professionally, I’ve been looking toward trying to get into administration at some point in the near future,” Zinke said. “I have two little kids at home, but they’re at the age now where they’re old enough where I can be out and go to more sporting events, and they can come with me. I talked to my wife, who’s also an alum, and we just felt that this was a good move, so that was why I made the decision to apply for this position.”

Superintendent Denise Aughenbaugh said Zinke brings “a great deal of leadership and experience.”

“He knows Mendota High School as a former student-athlete and alumnus, teacher and coach,” Aughenbaugh said in a news release. “Brock has a great purpose and drive to work with students, athletes, coaches, parents and community members to lead Trojan athletics to the next level. We look forward to him joining the administrative team.”

Zinke, who will continue to serve as an assistant football coach, said he hopes to help Mendota’s athletic department improve.

“I would like to bring continued growth,” Zinke said. “I think we’ve made strides over the last few years improving the athletic department overall. I want to continue to grow that. Ideally, we want to give our student-athletes the best overall experience while they’re here. I think we can do that through coordinating and unifying the various sports that we have and working with all of our athletes.”

With Hanson being hired at L-P in late June, Zinke was a late hire to the position.

“It’s a transition, which can be expected,” Zinke said. “Right now, I’m just working through the process of getting my systems out of how I want to do things. The last couple days, I’ve been in here working, and I’ll be here working the next two weeks. It’s a process just like anything else.

“I think over time I’ll get in the groove and have a better feel for it. I’m making new contacts and figuring out how all the different programs work online, stuff like that has been something to work through.”