Chester Area's Julie Eppard becomes first South Dakota woman to win state's top athletic director award
Jun. 30—MITCHELL — Chester Area's Julie Eppard has been selected by the South Dakota Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association as the first female Athletic Director of the Year.
Coupled with that honor, Eppard also became the first female athletic director in South Dakota to receive the NIAAA State Award of Merit.
Eppard was hired in 2013 by the Chester Area School District to be the 6-12 grade principal and activities director. Throughout her eight years of experience thus far as an athletic administrator, Eppard was named Region Principal of the Year in 2016-17 and was named Region Athletic Director of the Year in 2017-18.
"I have been truly blessed and grateful to work with such amazing student athletes, coaches, staff, administration, and community not only at Chester Area, but throughout the state," Eppard said. "It is these groups that keep making me want to be better and always look for growth."
At Chester Area, Eppard has also served as the region volleyball chair for nine years, the region golf chair for four years and the region track and field for six years. In that span, Chester Area has had 10 state championships/runner-up finishes.
Prior to principal and athletic director tenure with Chester, she worked 15 years at Lyman, one year at Chamberlain and two years at Pipestone, Minnesota.
