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Jon Leatherman of St. Thomas Named The Sun Conference Sports Information Director of the Year

Date postedJune 18, 2020
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Jon Leatherman of St. Thomas Named The Sun Conference Sports Information Director of the Year - The Sun Conference

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TAMPA, Fla. - The Sun Conference has named Jon Leatherman, Manager of Athletic Communications at St. Thomas University, as the 2019-20 Sun Conference Sports Information Director of the Year. Conference Commissioner Dustin Wilke made the announcement during the annual TSC Sports Information Directors meeting (via ZOOM) on Monday.

The 2019-20 recognition as Sports Information Director of the Year by The Sun Conference marks the second time in school history that St. Thomas has received the award (Phil de Montmollin, '17-18). The winner was named in a balloting of The Sun’s 12 Sports Information Directors.

"I am incredibly humbled to be recognized as The Sun Conference Sports Information Director of the Year," said Leatherman. "The award is a truly a full-team honor and impossible without the work of [Michelle] Murch, our outstanding Manager of Digital Media and Game Operations. We have worked together closely in the past two years, and this award is hers as much as it is mine. I would also like to recognize the tireless efforts of our outstanding student assistants Alyssa Ramirez and Taelor Schmitz, as well as the assistance from the tremendous student-athletes at St. Thomas and the Bobcats Sports Network crew."

"A big thank you to my colleagues across The Sun Conference for selecting me as the Sports Information Director of the Year,” continued Leatherman. “It is a tremendous honor and I am proud to represent The Sun Conference and St. Thomas University."

Both Leatherman and Murch are in their second year full-time at St. Thomas. The duo has been recognized after successfully publicizing the school's 24 varsity sports and management of the inaugural STU football season in the fall of 2019.

In addition to the first football season in program history, the duo has successfully promoted an NAIA World Series title-game run by the St. Thomas baseball team (2019) and the addition of four new sports to the athletics roster (men’s and women’s swimming and diving, wrestling and women's flag football).

Leatherman and Murch were hired in January of 2019, following their graduations from the St. Thomas University Sports Administration graduate program in December 2018. Since taking over the Athletic Communications department at STU, Leatherman and Murch have evolved the social media profiles and engagement of the varsity athletic programs. The pair also revamped the broadcast of home events, implementing the "Bobcats Sports Network," which is entirely student-run by the team of Nick Izquierdo, Giovanni Rosello, Josh Leatherman and Gus Guerra.

Murch recently took first place in the NAIA-SIDA "Infographics - Gameday" publications contest, which was announced on June 8 at the annual CoSIDA meetings. Murch has been recognized for her graphic design at the national level in consecutive years.

Leatherman and Murch both hold two degrees from St. Thomas University and have come through the illustrious Sports Administration program at STU.

As the Sun Conference Sports Information Director of the Year, Leatherman will now be considered for the National SID of the Year award.

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