McPherson, KS - May 24, 2012 - Central Christian College Athletic Director Melvin Sanders has recently announced the hiring of Justin Cunningham to take over the duties of Head Baseball Coach at CCC next fall. For Cunningham, a native of Wichita, Kansas, baseball has been a part of life at every level. He played high school ball at Valley Center High School and went on to play two years for the Pratt Community College Beavers (Pratt, Kansas) and then two more years for the Lyon College Scots (Batesville, Arkansas). While playing for the Scots, Justin earned a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Business Administration and Economics. After graduating from Lyon College, Coach Cunningham went on to earn a master's degree in Sports Administration from Henderson State University (Arkadelphia, Arkansas).

This will be Coach Cunningham's first collegiate head coaching job, but he is well suited for the task as he has been an assistant coach at two other programs with national championship experience. Right out of college, Coach Cunningham was hired as an assistant at NCAA DII Ouachita Baptist University (Arkadelphia, Arkansas). A year later, he was hired at Oklahoma Wesleyan University (Bartlesville, Oklahoma). While at OKWU, the Eagles won the NCCAA national title and, this year, they were the runner-up.

CCC Athletic Director Melvin Sanders believes that Cunningham's experience in the MCAC will be a big advantage in bringing the CCC baseball program back to prominence. Sanders said, "Coach Cunningham comes from a great baseball background; his past two years as an assistant at Oklahoma Wesleyan have delivered an NCCAA National Title, and another appearance in the NCCAA championship game just a few days ago. In addition to his on field accolades, Coach Cunningham has been just as successful with their teams in the classroom. His high attention to detail combined with his work ethic will ensure success in this league. He knows the MCAC and that will also prove to be a clear advantage in his learning curve as head coach."

Coach Cunningham is looking forward to this new chapter in his life commenting, "I am excited to be a part of the CCC community and a part of the direction where CCC Baseball is headed. The vision of the program is to excel not only on the baseball field, but also in the classroom, on and off campus and, ultimately, spiritually."

Justin and his wife Whitney have two sons, Conner and Brendan. The Cunningham family will be moving to McPherson in June.