Salbato assumed the Director of Athletics role in the early spring of 2015. Prior
to becoming the AD he served for two years as Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Information
Director to Coach Rich Holden.
Since 2015 the college athletic department added many programs to the list of sports
it competes in with other NJCAA schools. The Cross Country/Track and Field programs
were added at the Valley Campus and have had great success including two NJCAA National
Titles. Those titles came in Women’s Half Marathon in 2020 and Men’s Cross Country
in 2023. TSC added eSports to the valley campus in 2021. Beach Volleyball was added
at the Trinidad campus in 2021 as well with the Trojans qualifying for nationals the
past two seasons. The latest programs added at TSC were Men’s and Women’s Wrestling
in 23-24. The men’s program returned to our roster of sports after being cancelled
in the early 1970’s. Women’s wrestling is a new sport in the NJCAA and TSC is in the
forefront of this developing sport.
All of the programs continue to thrive at Trinidad State with 2023-24 being our best
year in recent memory. TSC finished 20th in the National Cup Standings, with five
teams placing at national events. TSC also had five Region 9 Champions in 2023-24.
Salbato, a native of Trinidad, graduated from Trinidad State in 1994 and immediately
started working in the Audio-Visual department under former Director of Technology
Doug Bak. Salbato performed various jobs in the IT department, before being assigned
the Sports Information and Web Developer duties in 2005. He earned his bachelor’s
degree from Colorado Christian University in the summer of 2014 and followed that
up with a masters from Coker University in the winter of 2015.
Salbato and his wife Melissa reside in Trinidad and have three children, Mara, Myka
and Mason. In his spare time Salbato works for KCRT Radio in Trinidad as their sports
announcer.
