NEW YORK – University of Nebraska at Kearney students took first place in two categories during the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System Media Awards competition.
Jon Willis, a sophomore sports communication major from Omaha, won the best station or event promotion category for his Loper sports promo and Ethan McCormick, a sophomore sports communication major from Bennington, claimed the top award in the best pregame or postgame show category for “Loper Gameday Postgame.” Both students are part of the sports broadcasting team for the campus radio station, KLPR 91.1 FM.
The IBS Media Awards were presented Feb. 25 during the organization’s annual conference at the Sheraton Times Square in New York City. The college broadcasting competition includes campus radio and television stations from across the country.
In addition to the overall winners, UNK students were national finalists in several other categories. Those include:
- Best sports play-by-play (football), best sports play-by-play (other) and best sports talk show – Willis
- Best sports talk show – Grant Tighe, a senior sports communication and sports management major from Kearney
- Best sports talk show – Alex Hammeke, a junior sports communication major from Ellinwood, Kansas
- Best sports talk show – Canon Rath, a senior sports communication major from Kearney
- Best video commercial – Grace McDonald, a senior multimedia and journalism major from Rockville
- Best newscast – Jihyeon Baek, Jaden Cameron of Grand Island, Hannah French of Axtell, Mitchell Lierman of West Point, Kylie Schwab of Giltner, Kristen Wetovick of Fullerton and McDonald. These students were part of a video production class that partners with The Antelope newspaper to produce the “Antelope News” show.
“I am extremely blessed to be surrounded by students who are not only talented but also work hard. This particular group of students is incredibly fun to be around, too. They make coming to work every day something to look forward to,” said Ford Clark, a senior lecturer in the UNK Department of Communication and general manager of KLPR.
