Tom McGuire, Director of Sports Information/Athletic Marketing and Promotions at Bloomsburg University, has been named the ECAC-SIDA's 2014 University Division Irving T. Marsh Award recipient. The award is presented annually to one who has exhibited excellence in the field of sports information. The award was first presented in 1966 and it is named after Irving Marsh, the ECAC Service Bureau founder and director until his retirement in 1973.

"I am humbled to be chosen for this award by the ECAC-SIDA Board," McGuire said. "It's quite an honor. As I look at the list of past award winners I see some of the people I looked up to when I first started in our profession 26 years ago. To now be listed with them takes my breath away."

McGuire is in his 17th year as Director of Sports Information at Bloomsburg University and 26th overall in sports information. He also serves as the assistant director in the office of Marketing and Communication. He is in charge of handling publicity for all 20 varsity sports at Bloomsburg in addition to producing the media guides for the teams and handling the maintenance of the sports portion of the school's website.

"Tom's record of success and accomplishment at Bloomsburg University, as well as Wilkes University, is a standard that few have been able to match," said Steve McCloskey, Director of Athletic Operations & Information at Mansfield University. "Tom has done it all and done so with dignity and the highest standard of professionalism."

At Bloomsburg, McGuire has served as the host SID for dozens of NCAA and PSAC championship events, including the 2008 and 2011 NCAA D-II national field hockey final four. McGuire's broadcasting background has also come into play several times as he has served as the voice of the NCAA D-II field hockey webcasts in 2006, 2008, 2010 and in 2011.

McGuire has promoted two Bloomsburg football players for the Harlon Hill with Franklyn Quiteh winning the honor in the fall of 2013 after finishing third in 2012 and sixth in 2010 as a freshman. In 2006 he promoted an unknown player, Jamar Brittingham, to a third place finish for the D-II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

In 2006 he also promoted head football coach Danny Hale to a top 10 finish in the first-ever Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year program. Hale went on to be featured in a special on ABC-TV that year that was hosted by broadcast legend Keith Jackson. Under McGuire's promotion the Huskies have also been featured numerous times on the CBS Sports Review of the Championships show that highlights action at some of the NCAA championships. He has also had 11 student-athletes featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd section.

McGuire is also a contributor to the Bloomsburg University Magazine and has twice been honored for his writing. He recently took first place in District Two for his athlete profile of former baseball player Joey Ianiero, while in 2011 took first place in District Two for his story on two of Bloomsburg University's athletic trainers.

In the fall of 2005, McGuire added the role of Athletic Marketing and Promotions director to his title and oversees all corporate marketing and promotional plans for the Huskies' athletic teams. Under his guidance sponsorships have increased from $7,500 to nearly $50,000 per year and overall has raised more than $225,000 for scholarships. He also serves as the director of licensing for the university.

From January to August of 2008, McGuire served as the interim director of communications at Bloomsburg, overseeing all public relations matters for the school. He also served in that role again from August to December of 2013 while his supervisor was on maternity leave.

Previously he served as SID at Wilkes University for nine and a half years. While there, he oversaw the promotion and publicity for the school's 13 varsity athletic teams.

Along with overseeing all publicity and media guides, McGuire was also the host of the cable television show Colonels Corner, which highlighted Wilkes athletics. Through his efforts Wilkes was recognized by Sports Illustrated as the number one pre-season D-III men's basketball team in 1996-97. He also had a feature story run worldwide on AP, that was later picked up by USA Today, and which later resulted in an appearance on FOX News.

McGuire is a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America and has won several awards for his publications from the organization. He is also a member of the ECAC-SIDA, serving as the Division II Representative to the Executive Board. He was also the site coordinator for the 1998 ECAC-SIDA Workshop in Wilkes-Barre.

While at Wilkes, he was a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference Sports Information Directors and served as its chairman for three years.

Several former workers (Intern, graduate assistant and students) have gone on to work in the sports information/sports publicity field including Matt Reitnour (Assistant AD for Athletic Communications at Canisius College); Ryan Rebholz (SID at IUP and former SID at Wilkes University); Ryan Yanoshak (assistant SID at Army); Paul Blascovich (former intern at Appalachian State and now SID at Sarah Lawrence College); Lauren Ferrett (SID at Wellesley); John Scarinci (SID at York, NY); Lindsey Wyckoff Mitchell (New Orleans Pelicans PR assistant); John Gatto (Asst SID at Union, KY); Don Sherman (SID at Elimira College); Bryan Salvadore (SID at Kutztown University); Mark Vellek (former ast. SID at Alabama-Birmingham and Syracuse intern); Chris Matrich (PR Director Springfield Armour of the NBDL); and Tim Hipszer (GA at IUP).

A 1985 graduate of Wilkes with a degree in Communications, McGuire ran cross country for four years and was named team MVP as a sophomore.

McGuire also spent time as head cross country coach at Wilkes University and was also head coach of the Seton Catholic boys' varsity basketball team. He has also been a Cubmaster and coached a variety of youth sports. He resides in Mountaintop, Pa., with his wife Audrey and teenage son Nick.

After honoring one person from 1966 through 1990, the Irving T. Marsh Service Bureau Award was expanded to its present format in 1991, in which one recipient from the University Division (Division I or II) and one recipient from the College Division (Division III, NAIA or Junior College) are recognized annually. The awards are presented at the ECAC-SIDA Awards Banquet, which will be held this year on June 26 at the Hilton Garden Inn (http://troy.HGI.com) in Troy, N.Y. 

Among the past University Division Marsh Award winners are Jack Grinold of Northeastern University (1979), Andy Dougherty of Saint Joseph's University (1982), Ed Carpenter of Boston University (1991), Kathy Slattery of Dartmouth College (1997), Bill Jones of Skidmore College (2004) and Larry Dougherty of Temple University (2011). A complete list of Irving T. Marsh Award winners is available at www.ecacsida.org/marsh.

Established in 1955, the Eastern College Athletic Conference-Sports Information Directors Association provides support for the sports information directors of the many schools affiliated with the ECAC. Membership is open to all sports information directors, conference information directors, public relations directors, athletic communicators and corporations that have a vested interest in the welfare of the organization. ECAC-SIDA is one of the nation's largest sports information director associations, with member colleges and universities ranging from Maine to North Carolina in Divisions I, II and III as well as NAIA schools and junior colleges.