Peach Belt Conference

David Brunk, Peach Belt Conference Commissioner

David Brunk is in his second year as commissioner of the Peach Belt Conference. He came to the PBC after serving as commissioner of the Northeast-10 Conference for the past nine years. Brunk is only the second commissioner the conference has ever had in its 17-year history.

Brunk was the first full-time commissioner for the Northeast-10 beginning his tenure in 1998. Under his leadership, the NE10 has added five new institutions and expanded the number of championship sports offered to 23, currently the most offered by any NCAA Division II conference. The NE10 has also led the nation consistently in graduation rates and academic success rates and has been brought to the forefront in the region and the nation.

Brunk began his career in intercollegiate athletics at Morehead State University where he served as Director of the Eagle Athletic Fund before being named Assistant Athletic Director. He also served as the school's head softball coach for two years. He moved from there to work for the NCAA for eight years, beginning work in compliance services which was later merged into membership services. He left the NCAA offices to join the Northeast-10 just prior to the NCAA's move to Indianapolis.

Prior to his involvement in intercollegiate athletics, Brunk owned and operated several minor league baseball franchises for the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He garnered numerous awards for overall business and marketing/promotional excellence.

Brunk has been highly involved within the NCAA committee structure. He currently serves on the Division II Membership Committee and has served as chairman of the Division II Management Council and served on the Division II Convention Planning Project Team, the Division II Community Advisory Group, the Division II Media Advisory Group, Division II Identity Subcommittee and the Division II Game Environment Advisory Group.

Brunk is a 1972 graduate of Ball State University and holds a Master's degree in Sports Science and Sport Management from the United States Sports Academy. He and his wife, Brenda, have two daughters, Ashley and Alexis.

Diana Kling, Assistant Commissioner for Internal Operations

Diana Kling enters her third year as Assistant Commissioner for Internal Operations for the Peach Belt Conference and also serves as the Senior Woman Administrator. She came to the league office after five years as a compliance specialist at the University of Florida.

Kling was involved in all areas of compliance and eligibility for the Gators program including student-athlete certification, financial aid, waivers and records. She conducted education programs dealing with NCAA Rules, gambling and sports agents and administred conference and NCAA championships events. She also compiled and edited UF’s compliance policies and procedures manuals and coordinated the school’s YES Clinics.

Her role for the Peach Belt focuses on compliance and eligibility issues for the more than 1,500 PBC studentathletes. She will also assist the compliance teams at the 12 PBC member institutions and administer the NCAA coaches certification test as well as the National Letter of Intent program among other duties.

A native of Auburn, Ohio, Kling graduated from Pepperdine in 1994 with a degree in business administration and received her MBA from Ashford University in 2008. She and her husband Steve have a son, J.T.

Ken Gerlinger, Assistant Commissioner for Communications

Ken Gerlinger enters his eighth year as the Assistant Commissioner for Communications for the Peach Belt Conference. He joined the league after serving for three years as the Sports Information Director at Charleston Southern University.

Gerlinger began his SID career at the College of Charleston where he served as a student assistant and later as assistant SID from 1991-95 where he became the primary contact for the women’s basketball and golf programs. He also assisted with the men’s basketball program and served the team at their first NCAA tournament appearance.

From there, Gerlinger moved on to Clayton State University, which began its membership as a part of the Peach Belt Conference during his tenure. He spent two years with the Lakers, earning a publication award for the 1996-97 basketball media guide and was also recognized for his website design.

Gerlinger returned to his native Charleston in 1997 to begin work at Charleston Southern where he served as the radio voice for the Buccaneer basketball team for the 1997-98 season.

He has also done statistical work for the Charleston RiverDogs Class A baseball team, the Arenafootball 2 Charleston Swampfoxes and the Southern Conference baseball tournament. In 1996, he was a volunteer for the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, where he did courtside basketball statistics in over 20 games including stats for the Dream Team and U.S. Women’s National Team.

Gerlinger received a B.S. in business and a B.A. in communications from the College of Charleston in 1994.

John Semeraro, Director of External Operations

John Semeraro begins his first year with the Peach Belt Conference as Director of External Operations. John comes to the PBC after serving at the NCAA Eligibility Center.

Semeraro will be working on the conference’s Corporate Partner program as well as assisting with PBC Championships, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, community engagement initiatives and as a part of the new NCAA Game Environment Initiative, of which the PBC is a beta conference.

A native of Brentwood, Tenn., Semeraro processed academic certification cases at the NCAA Eligibility Center in Indianapolis, Ind. He worked with college-bound student-athletes and secondary schools while coordinating Initial Eligibility Waivers and assisting with ACT and SAT test score management operations. Prior to that he worked in the Development Office at Ohio University and was a community engagement consultant for NCAA Division II.

Semeraro graduated from St. Leo University with a degree in accounting. He was a three-time Male Athlete and Scholar-Athlete of the Year in both soccer and golf at St. Leo and earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship Award. He earned masters’ degrees in Sports Administration and Business Administration from Ohio University where he was the MBA Class President. He also served as national chair of the NCAA Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Peach Belt Conference Administration