Sarah Otteman

Position: Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Alma Mater: University of the Ozarks '11 Graduate School: Regis University '14

Sarah Otteman arrived at Pepperdine as the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications in 2015. She serves as the primary contact for men's, women's and beach volleyball and men's and women's tennis, while also helping with men's and women's basketball.

She comes to Malibu most recently from Dodge City Community College in Dodge City, Kan.   As Sports Information Director for the Conquistadors, Otteman was the primary contact for all 16 sports, including football, men's and women's soccer, women's volleyball, men's and women's cross country and track and field, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's rodeo, men's and women's golf, baseball and softball, as well as the DC3s dance and cheer teams.  

As primary contact, she was responsible for all website maintenance, recaps and releases, statistics coverage, records and history, game day coverage and Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference player of the week nominations.   Otteman was successful in producing a live stream video for all home contests and events at no cost.

She also served as primary graphic design artist for all sports, implementing game programs, game day posters and a strong social media platform during her tenure.   Otteman functioned as the public address announcer for volleyball, men's and women's soccer and baseball and softball and covered radio play-by-play duties for baseball and softball when needed, including coverage of all NJCAA Region VI baseball and softball appearances and the 2014 JUCO Baseball World Series.  

During her time at the community college, Otteman and the administrative staff brought the first annual Athletics Hall of Fame back to Dodge City.  

On the side, she worked with the Kansas State High School Athletics Association as the primary statistician for the KSHSAA Class A girls' and boys' basketball tournaments.   She also served as a play-by-play and color analyst at the SPIAA girls and boys high school basketball tournament.

Prior to Dodge City, Otteman was a graduate assistant at Regis University in Denver, Colo., serving as primary contact for men's and women's soccer, women's basketball, men's and women's cross country and softball and secondary contact for women's volleyball, men's basketball, men's and women's golf, women's lacrosse and baseball.  

While at Regis, Otteman earned her Masters of Arts in Sports Communications (2014).   She was the first-ever graduate assistant to attend the NCAA Leadership Seminar, a tradition still held by GA's at Regis today.

For her primary sports, she produced all statistics, live stats, history and records and releases.   She was the department's sole graphic designer, engineering and implementing game day posters and a strong social media presence for all 12 sports as well as game programs for her primary sports, while serving as public address announcer for men's and women's soccer, softball and some baseball games and play-by-play announcer when needed for men's and women's basketball.

During her tenure, Otteman hosted numerous Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's and women's soccer tournaments, as well as the NCAA Elite Eight men's soccer tournament in 2013 when the Rangers were ranked No. 1 in the nation for many consecutive weeks.   She also provided direct coverage in 2012 as Regis advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in men's soccer.

Before moving to Denver, Otteman earned her Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Communications (2011) from University of the Ozarks, a NCAA Division III liberal arts institution, based in Clarksville, Ark.   While there, she lettered in softball four seasons and earned American Southwest Conference honorable mention status in her freshman and junior campaigns.  

Otteman still in the record books at U of O with top-10 spots in 17 career records categories, including No. 1 with most saves, No. 2 in lowest stolen base against percentage and most times hit by pitch, No. 5 in most walks and stolen base attempts and No. 6 in most double plays turned, highest on-base percentage, sacrifice hits and most stolen bases.  

She is in the records in 17 single-season categories, including No. 1 in 2008 with most saves, tied for No. 3 in 2010 with most times hit by pitch, No. 5 in highest batting average, most hits and most double plays turned.   Lastly, Otteman holds year-by-year leader records in 10 categories, including triples, sacrifice hits, lowest ERA, saves and caught stealing in 2008; walks and hit by pitches in 2009 and hit by pitch, stolen bases and errors in 2010.

Aside from athletics, Otteman served as the student assistant for the Sports Information Department, helping with men's and women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, baseball and softball.   She assisted with media guide publications that would lead to national awards from CoSIDA "College" category which includes NCAA II, NCAA III, NAIA and junior colleges.   The sports recognized included baseball (1^st in nation), men's soccer (2^nd) and softball (3^rd).  

She was also Secretary of the Student Athletes' Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Editor-in-Chief of the Eagle campus newspaper.   Otteman also served as a tutor, reader and note-taker for the Jones Learning Center (JLC), a comprehensive fee-based program that provides students with learning disabilities, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with the skill sets to succeed academically and build brighter futures.   The JLC offers more services than any other collegiate program for students with learning disabilities in the nation.

Otteman originally hails from Lockport, Ill. where she graduated from Lockport Township High School.   She currently resides in Woodland Hills, Calif., with her yellow Labrador Andy Lynn.