David Riggins
Athletic Director

David Riggins is beginning his 22nd year at Mars Hill College. He assumed the athletic director’s duties on September 1, 1998, after serving as the assistant athletic director at Mars Hill since 1993.

Riggins is the winningest head men’s basketball coach in school history. He accumulated 431 victories as a head high school and collegiate coach. His high school teams collected eight conference championships and three State Championships while making nine playoff appearances. He guided his Mars Hill teams to three post-season appearances including the 1994 SAC Championship title.

Coach Riggins is active in community life. He is a member of Woodland Hills Baptist Church and is a member of the Rotary Club of Weaverville. Riggins has been actively involved in NCAA committee work having served as a member of the NCAA Championships Committee, the Legislative Committee and the NCAA Playing Rules Committee. He currently serves as a member of the NCAA Division II Management Council where he holds the Vice Chair position. Riggins is the Chair of the Division II Championships Committee and also serves on the Budget and Finance Committee. Also, he is currently chairing a NCAA task force studying game environments. That group initiated its work in July of 2007 with a summit held in Washington D.C.

Coach Riggins played basketball in college at Francis Marion University before receiving both his bachelors degree (1974) and master’s degree (1980) from the University of South Carolina.
Coach Riggins and his wife Rita have two sons, Chase (23) and Kyle (20) and they reside in Weaverville.

Rick Baker
Assistant A.D./Sports Information Director

Rick is in his 15th year as the Sports Information
Director and his fifth year as the Assistant Athletic Director and Director of Compliance.

In 1991 he graduated with a bachelors degree in Physical Education, and received his master’s degree in Exercise Science in 1994, both from East Tennessee State University. While at East Tennessee State he was a four-year letter winner of the Varsity Baseball Team. He was also team captain his senior year.

Baker and his wife Angel have two children, a son Jordan age 9, and a daughter Alexis age 7. The family resides in Mars Hill.

Marty Gilbert
Faculty Athletic Representative

Marty has been Mars Hill's FAR since the fall of 2005. Marty graduated from Swain County High School in 1995 before entering MHC where he earned a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science in 1999. Gilbert then went on to Duke University where he received a M.S. in Computer Science in 2002. He returned to MHC in the fall of 2002 as an instructor in the Computer Science Department. Gilbert and his wife Sarai reside in Mars Hill and attend Woodland Hills Baptist Church.

Linda Laughrun
Administrative Assistant/Assistant Compliance Officer

Linda is a native of Burnsville, North Carolina.
She attended the University of North Carolina and graduated from Warren Wilson College.

Linda worked for University Hospital in Chapel Hill and for the North Carolina Heart Association. She returned home in 1988 and became the secretary to the Alumni Director. Linda became the Administrative Assistant for the Athletic Department in 1990. Linda is single and lives in Mars Hill.

Allen Shelley
Head Athletic Trainer

Allen Shelley is in his 15th year as the Head
Athletic Trainer for Mars Hill.

Allen came to the Lions from Gardner-Webb University where he was a graduate assistant. He graduated from Gardner-Webb with a bachelor of science degree in Elementary Education in 1992 and completed his master’s degree in Physical Education in August of 1995 also from Gardner-Webb University.

Allen is married to the former Jennifer Mitchell and they reside in Mars Hill.