The Meridian Public School District named Cheyenne Trussell its newest athletic director in a press release Wednesday.

Trussell, a 1979 graduate of Meridian High School, will begin his post at the start of the 2020-21 school year. He has served as athletic director for the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District since 2017.

“I am so glad that Dr. Trussell is coming home to his alma mater,” Superintendent Dr. Amy Carter said in the press release. “He knows that the Meridian Public School District strives for excellence and is accustomed to success in all phases of athletics. I am looking forward to Dr. Trussell being a part of that Wildcat success again.”

Trussell was a member of the 1978 Big Eight Conference championship-winning football team at Meridian. He received an undergraduate degree from Southern Miss and earned his master’s and doctorate degrees at Jackson State. 

Before his time with Starkville, he also had a 15-year tenure with the Hattiesburg Public School District as executive director of student services and activities, where he added seven new sports, and spent 13 years with the Jackson Public School District as well.