RAPID CITY, S.D. --- Josh Van Valkenburg-Gernert was promoted to Assistant Athletic Director for Communications. He previously held the position of Athletic Communications Coordinator. Van Valkenburg-Gernert is beginning his second year at South Dakota Mines.
Some of the improvements made include:

• The South Dakota Mines athletic website saw page views increase 47% in 2021-22 compared the previous year of 2020-21 (Covid affected) and 30% over 2018-19 (most recent non-covid affected year).
• The Hardrocker Athletics social media accounts saw growth in 2021-22 with the Twitter account growing 13%, the Facebook account growing 8%, and the Instagram account growing 72%.

In his first year, Van Valkenburg-Gernert coordinated and assisted in the production of Episode 1 of Rivalries produced by LG Corporation on the rivalry between South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State basketball, helped to Institute BlueFrame as the new streaming service for Hardrocker Athletics and created the Hardrocker Podcast Network along with hosting the flagship show – Hardrocker Huddle.

Van Valkenburg-Gernert oversees streaming, video production, social media, media relations, branding, the content, and all pages on South Dakota Mines athletic website - gorockers.com - among other things in the athletic department.

About South Dakota Mines
The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and NCAA Division II offering 11 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic programs. The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 members, as well as four associate members, located in the states of California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah.