College Sports Information Directors of America

• Related:
• Scholarships & Grants Program
• All-Time CoSIDA Honorees

by Jeff Griesch, University of Nebraska Senior Associate Communications Director/Operations
Chair of the CoSIDA Scholarship Committee

The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) have announced the winners of a combined $37,000 in scholarships and grants to the recipients of their 2017-18 awards.

CoSIDA Scholarship Committee members chose a pair of $7,500 postgraduate scholarship recipients, two more $3,000 undergraduate scholarship winners, four $1,000 scholarship winners among the children of CoSIDA members, and selected one school to receive a $12,000 graduate internship grant.

The scholarships will be formally announced during CoSIDA’s annual workshop in Orlando, June 11-14.

The Fred Nuesch-Dave Wohlhueter Undergraduate Scholarships and Phil Langan Graduate Internship Grant have been awarded since 1999, when CoSIDA expanded its scholarship program in order to foster interest in the sports information field. Since presenting the first Wylie Smith Graduate Scholarship in 1981, CoSIDA has provided more than $500,000 in grants to students working in sports information offices at member institutions and conferences.

To be eligible for either the Postgraduate or Undergraduate Scholarships, candidates must maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average and express an interest in pursuing a career in sports information.

Nicole Praga, a recent graduate of Arizona State University, plans to pursue a master’s degree in mass communication at ASU with the assistance of the Wylie Smith Postgraduate Scholarship ($7,500). Praga, who graduated in May of 2017 from Arizona State’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication with a 4.05 GPA, completed her undergraduate course work in just three years. She intends to earn her master’s degree in May of 2018. Despite a rigorous course load, Praga spent three years working in the Arizona State Media Relations Office led by Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations Mark Brand. In 2017, she acted as the full-time SID for the ASU women’s gymnastics team, coordinating all aspects of media relations and traveling with the team. She also served as a volunteer at the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four.

The Wylie Smith Postgraduate Scholarship is named in honor of the former CoSIDA Scholarships Committee chairman and long-time Sports Information Director at Northern Arizona University.

Andrea Beene claimed the Langston Rogers Postgraduate Scholarship ($7,500). Beene, who earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma with a 4.0 GPA in May of 2017, spent 2016-17 as the primary media relations contact for the 2017 NCAA Champion Oklahoma men’s golf team. In addition to her duties with the Oklahoma Athletic Communications Office under Assistant Athletic Director Mike Houck, the National Merit Scholar also served as a teaching assistant in the Gaylord College of Journalism as a senior in 2016-17. Beene plans to pursue a master’s degree in journalism and mass communications at Oklahoma.

The Langston Rogers Postgraduate Scholarship is named in honor of former Mississippi Sports Information Director and CoSIDA Hall of Famer Langston Rogers, who served as the SID at Ole Miss from 1981 until his retirement in 2010. The scholarship is presented annually to a rising minority or female student.

CoSIDA’s Fred Nuesch Undergraduate Scholarship award ($3,000) was presented to Christopher Lawrence from the University of Alaska Anchorage and the Dave Wohlhueter Undergraduate Scholarship ($3,000) was awarded to Bailey Knecht from Northeastern University.

Lawrence, who will be a senior journalism and public communications major at Alaska Anchorage, captured the Nuesch Scholarship with a 3.96 GPA. He has worked in the Alaska Anchorage Media Relations Office since September of 2014 for Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Nate Sagan. In addition to serving as the cross country contact, Lawrence has extensive video editing experience across a variety of platforms.

Knecht earned the Wohlhueter Scholarship after compiling a 3.90 GPA as a journalism major at Northeastern University. The senior-to-be has worked two different stints as a Northeastern Athletic Communications student assistant. Most recently, she has worked on the game-day media staff for the NHL’s Boston Bruins. During the spring semester of 2016, Knecht studied abroad at the Universidad de Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

For the first time in 2016-17, CoSIDA granted four $1,000 member-child scholarships, doubling the size of its newest scholarship program to benefit CoSIDA members and their families. Fiona Lefresne and Daniel Ruple claimed member-child scholarships for the second consecutive year. Lefresne, who will be a junior at Missouri State University, is the daughter of Saint Leo University Assistant Athletic Director for Communications Pete Lefresne. Fiona is majoring in athletic training at Missouri State, where she carries a 3.28 grade-point average. She also has been a student assistant in the Missouri State Athletic Communications Office during her first two years on campus.

Ruple, a sophomore-to-be at Baldwin Wallace, is the son of Baldwin Wallace Director of Sports Information and CoSIDA Hall of Famer Kevin Ruple. Daniel posted a 3.87 GPA as a freshman, while also capturing Ohio Athletic Conference Freshman-of-the-Year honors as a member of the Baldwin Wallace soccer team. He was a second-team All-OAC selection and a second-team academic All-Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association choice. The 2015 Gatorade Ohio High School Soccer Player of the Year, Ruple is majoring in accounting at Baldwin Wallace.

Lauren Dickerson, a senior-to-be at William & Mary, earned a member-child scholarship for the second time in her collegiate career. The daughter of Atlantic 10 Conference Assistant Commissioner Drew Dickerson, Lauren, who carries a 3.34 GPA as a history and government major, also earned a member-child scholarship in 2015. She has been involved on the William & Mary campus in the Office of University of Advancement and recently completed a semester abroad study exchange in the Netherlands.

Kevin Mobley became a first-time winner of the member-child scholarship. Mobley, who is a sophomore-to-be at the University of Georgia, posted a 3.8 GPA as a freshman journalism major. The son of Georgia associate sports information director Mike Mobley, Kevin worked as a freelance reporter as a series of sports features for the Athens Banner-Herald that won a Top 10 Project Award from the Associated Press. He also covered track and field for Georgia’s Red & Black independent student newspaper in the spring of 2017.

In addition to the eight scholarships, CoSIDA awarded the 2017-18 Phil Langan Graduate Internship Grant ($12,000) to Connecticut College. The Sports Information Office at Connecticut College covers 28 varsity sports with a single full-time employee. The Phil Langan Graduate Internship Grant provides funds for a sports information office to hire a graduate intern on a one-year basis, hoping the success of the program can help the school demonstrate the need for additional assistance in the future.

All-Time CoSIDA Honorees

Postgraduate Scholarship

• 1981 Craig Bohnert, Evansville
• 1982 John Lashway, Oregon
• 1983 Jay Hill, Michigan
• 1984 Jonathan Dukes, Georgia Southern
• 1985 Brian Teter, Illinois State
• 1986 Mark Berger, Ohio
• 1987 Chris McMurry, Northern Arizona
• 1988 Angela Hultman, Mankato State
• 1989 Beth Haag, Iowa State
• 1990 Stephanie Grimes, Boise State
• 1991 Lana Bandy, Purdue
• 1992 Amy Stabley, Central Michigan / Robert Hester, Northern Illinois
• 1993 Will Roleson, Miami (Ohio)
• 1994 Randy Hayson, Illinois State
• 1995 Stuart McFarland, Missouri / Sally Krauss, Western Kentucky
• 1996 Jeff Griesch, Nebraska
• 1997 Chris Ambrose, Purdue / Jeff Griesch, Nebraska
• 1998 Chris Ambrose, Purdue / Brian Gunning, Marshall
• 1999 Brian Gunning, Marshall / Heidi Roth, Syracuse
• 2000 Mark Fratto, Maryland / Andy Knappick, Illinois State
• 2001 Brad Caudill, Eastern Michigan / Susan Seabrook, Alabama-Birmingham
• 2002 Michelle Kelley, Colgate / Sean Wright, Westminster (Mo.)
• 2003 Brad Fischer, Wisconsin-La Crosse / Lainie Guiddy, West Virginia
• 2004 Eric Braley, Northern Iowa / Kristopher Sears, Indiana
• 2005 Michael Potter, Ball State / Erin Whiteside, Penn State
• 2006 Chris Yandle, Marshall / Jessica Calderone, Southeast Louisiana
• 2007 Caroline Domecq, Georgia / Kyle Chilton, Southern Virginia
• 2008 Jared Verner, Northwest Missouri State / Kendra Lee, Ohio State
• 2009 Laurie Wild, Northern Iowa / Britney Wright, Florida State
• 2010 Grant Abston, Texas / Mariel Brady, St. John’s
• 2011 Andrew Lentz, Tennessee / Britney Reddick, Kutztown
• 2012 Carli Todd, DePaul / Joelle Milholm, Cal State Bakersfield
• 2013 Kim Carper, Vanderbilt / Joelle Milholm, Cal State Bakersfield
• 2014 Kati Morse, Southeastern Louisiana / Kyle Skene, Millsaps
• 2015 Andrew Forhan, Whitworth / Akilah Laster, Oklahoma
• 2016 James Hajek, Nebraska / Lorie Garnett, Nebraska
• 2017 Nicole Praga, Arizona State / Andrea Beene, Oklahoma

Undergraduate Scholarship

• 1999 Kate Adams, Iowa State / Michelle La Scola, Northern Illinois / Casey Taylor, Christopher Newport
• 2000 Daniel Dykstra, Wheaton (Ill.) / Kimberly Frederick, Manhattan / Bobbie Horstman, Iowa State
• 2001 Bobbie Horstman, Iowa State / Shayla Reiff, Mt. Vernon Nazarene / Dustin Roberts, Oklahoma
• 2002 Branie Davidson, Northwest Missouri State / Shante Gree, Fayetteville State / Teri LaJeunesse, Michigan Tech
• 2003 Kimberly Gray Folkes, Virginia Tech / Adam Holtz, Bethany Lutheran / Laura Schoenberger, Pittsburg State
• 2004 Cassie Chance, Mississippi State / Nick Kiger, Colorado State
• 2005 John Vogel, Youngstown State / Monique Bowman, Capital University
• 2006 Todd Zeidler, Bemidji / Amy Robertson, Mississippi State
• 2007 Caleb Hawley, Oregon State / Christina Marshall, James Madison
• 2008 Andrew Middleman, Baldwin-Wallace / Kevin Flora, University of the Cumberlands
• 2009 Carli Todd, Tampa / David Bodman, La Salle
• 2010 Michael Benson, Southern Illinois-Carbondale / James Rodriguez, Baldwin-Wallace
• 2011 Adam K. Moussa, Memphis / Erica LaBranche, Stonehill
• 2012 Jake Faber, Pittsburg State / Ashley Goettl, Wisconsin-River Falls
• 2013 Casey Bonk, Pittsburgh / Lucy Montgomery, Washington-St. Louis
• 2014 Mike Mulcahy, New Mexico / Kourtney Freiburger, Purdue
• 2015 Nathan Edwards, San Jose State / Marisa Lombardo, Alvernia
• 2016 Morgan Romans, Eastern Kentucky / Christy Effendie, UC Davis
• 2017 Christopher Lawrence, Alaska Anchorage / Bailey Knecht, Northeastern

Graduate Internship Grant

• 1999 Alabama A&M, Wright State
• 2000 Central Oklahoma, Urbana (Ohio)
• 2001 Central State (Ohio), Cheyney
• 2002 Eckerd College, Hardin-Simmons
• 2003 St. Francis (N.Y.), Tennessee Tech
• 2004 Carroll College
• 2005 Wesleyan University
• 2006 Bellarmine
• 2007 Central College of Iowa
• 2008 Grand Canyon University
• 2009 Lake Erie College
• 2010 Illinois Wesleyan
• 2011 Ursinus
• 2012 DePauw
• 2013 Chicago State
• 2014 Gallaudet
• 2015 Elmhurst College
• 2016 Post University
• 2017 Connecticut College

Member Child Scholarship

• 2014 Grace Neely (Kentucky)/Tony Neely (Kentucky) - Dakota Hawkins (Winthrop)/Michael Hawkins (Francis Marion)
• 2015 Brinley Lowe (North Carolina)/Bob Lowe (Berry College) - Lauren Dickerson (William & Mary)/Drew Dickerson (Atlantic 10 Conference)
• 2016 Fiona Lefresne (Missouri State)/Pete Lefresne (Saint Leo) - Daniel Ruple (Baldwin Wallace)/Kevin Ruple (Baldwin Wallace)
• 2017 Fiona Lefresne (Missouri State)/Pete Lefresne (Saint Leo) - Daniel Ruple (Baldwin Wallace)/Kevin Ruple (Baldwin Wallace)
• Lauren Dickerson (William & Mary)/Drew Dickerson (Atlantic 10) - Kevin Mobley (Georgia)/Mike Mobley (Georgia)

Calendar

Important Dates