Jennifer Flowers named Winona State athletics director

WINONA, Minn. — Jennifer Flowers spent three years running a college hockey conference, followed by three years running an NCAA Division II athletics department.

Now she's returning to Winona State University as the school's Director of Athletics.

When Flowers assumes her duties at Winona State on June 18, she'll become the school's first female AD.

"I am humbled and grateful for the opportunity to return to Winona State to lead the Athletics Department. Winona State is an incredibly special place for myself and my family," said Flowers, a WSU graduate. "Being named the Athletic Director at my alma mater is a dream come true. I'm excited to work alongside our student-athletes, coaches, and campus community."

Flowers is a Winona State graduate and she was the school's Associate Athletic Director and Senior Women's Administrator from 2012-15.

She returns to Winona State following three years as the Director of Athletics at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. Flowers also has been actively involved with various regional and national committees during her career, and in January 2025 she was named to the NCAA Division II Management Council.

In her previous role as Commissioner for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (July 2019-June 2022), Flowers oversaw the eight-team Division I women's hockey league, including all areas of the league's operations and staffing.

She served as the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference's Assistant Commissioner for Membership Services prior to that, from 2016-2019.

Flowers was a four-year letter winner in volleyball at Winona State from 1999-2002, where she was a two-year captain, two-time all-conference honoree and a three-time Academic All-NSIC selection. She earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education, with an emphasis in middle school mathematics, from Winona State, and her master's degree in education, recreation, park and leisure studies from the University of Minnesota.

Flowers and her husband, Jonte — a three-time Winona State Hall of Fame inductee — have one daughter, Ayanna, and one son, Kellen.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of "staff." Often, the "staff" byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.