The Eastern Athletic Communications Association (EAST-COMM) Executive Board today announced its 2022 award winners. A total of five individuals were recognized, and will be honored at the 2022 EAST-COMM Awards Banquet on the evening of Thursday, June 16 during the organization's annual workshop in Ellicott City, Maryland at Turf Valley Resort. Find the
Registration link here.
"I'm extremely excited to present this slate of EAST-COMM award winners," said
Chuck Sadowski, EAST-COMM Past President and 2022 awards chair. "This group of 2022 winners truly represents the finest of our profession. These folks have helped shine the spotlight on their student-athletes, coaches and institutions for many years, and not only that, they also have made meaningful contributions to their communities and campuses as a whole. Our 2022 EAST-COMM award winners are shining stars in the field of athletic communications and unquestionably represent what makes intercollegiate athletics special."
This year's workshop will be the organization's first in-person workshop since June, 2019.
Meghan Barone of Centenary (N.J.) University is this year's recipient of the Bill Esposito Memorial Award. The 2022 recipient of the Bob Kenworthy Award is Jill Weigel of Neumann University.
Jon Holtz of Slippery Rock University and Shawn Medeiros of Endicott College are this year's winners of the Irving T. Marsh Award. Rick Leddy, the current Senior Director of Communications for the NABC and the former longtime sports information director at Southern Connecticut State University, is this year's Pete Nevins Award for Distinguished Achievement winner.
The 2022 EAST-COMM Monahan and Wallace Media Award winner will be announced at a later date.
2022 Bill Esposito Memorial Award Winner – Meghan Barone (Centenary)
The Bill Esposito Memorial Award is presented each year to a graduating senior that worked in athletic communications and plans to pursue a career in athletics.
Meghan Barone started in the Centenary athletic communications office as an intern in the spring of 2020 and has been a student worker for Centenary sports information director Megan O'Brien the past two years. A two-sport athlete for the Cyclones (women's basketball and cross country), Barone has assisted in all facets of athletic communications including social media, video editing, event management and statistical inputting. Meghan is slated to graduate from Centenary in May with a degree in Sport Management and Social Media Marketing.
2022 Bob Kenworthy Award Winner – Jill Weigel (Neumann University)
Named in honor of long-time Gettysburg College sports information director Bob Kenworthy, the Kenworthy Award is presented to an exceptional person who through their actions shows the same respect for the profession, SID's, the media and community as Bob Kenworthy did during his long and successful career.
Jill Weigel has served as the Athletic Communications Director at Neumann University since the summer of 2008, overseeing publicity for all 23 of the Knights' NCAA Division III sports. Prior to that she served in sports information roles at Haverford, the University of Maryland and as a graduate assistant at her alma mater, Kutztown University, from 2005-07. In addition, she is a member of the gameday staff for the Wilmington Blue Rocks, a Class-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals.
Weigel served as the College Division Representative on the EAST-COMM board from 2016-19 then served a two-year sting as the organization's Charities Chair. She is also a member of Philly-SIDA as well as CoSIDA.
Weigel has also spent over 17 years as a Fire Police Officer in her hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania. As a volunteer with the Goshen Fire Company, she often responds to emergencies providing traffic and scene control, protecting other first responders and the public at fires, auto accidents and other emergencies.
2022 Irving T. Marsh Award Winner – Jon Holtz (Slippery Rock University)
The Irving T. Marsh Service Bureau Award is presented annually to one or two athletic communications professionals who, in the opinion of the membership and the Executive Board, has exhibited excellence in the field of athletic communications.
Jon Holtz has been a member of the Athletic Communication department at Slippery Rock University since January of 2009 and was named Director of Athletic Communication in 2014. Since transitioning from Sports Information to Athletic Communication in 2014, Holtz and his staff have earned more than 100 national and regional awards for their work in publications, graphic design, writing, the website and as overall communications professionals. Holtz has mentored countless young professionals who have gone on to successful athletic communications careers.
Holtz served as the EAST-COMM President in the 2018-19 academic year and was the recipient of the organization's Esposito Award in 2007 as a graduating senior at Mansfield. Prior to Slippery Rock, Holtz spent a year as the SID at Lycoming College and was an athletic communications assistant at Army West Point. Holtz served four years on the board of D2SIDA from 2016-20 and is currently serving on the CoSIDA Division II Cabinet.
2022 Irving T. Marsh Award Winner – Shawn Medeiros (Endicott College)
Shawn Medeiros is in his seventh academic year as the Sports Information Director at Endicott College. Prior to that, he spent nearly three years as the SID at Wheaton (Mass.) College after spending the 2011-12 academic year as assistant SID at Stonehill. He is a past president of D3SIDA, serving as that organization's youngest-ever president.
Medeiros was the 2019 winner of the CoSIDA Rising Star Award and in 2021 Endicott was one of three winners of the newly-created CoSIDA ChangeMaker Innovation Award. The award was created to recognize staffs who have created and managed innovative content during the academic year. He is also a past CoSIDA Stabley Writing Contest district winner and has been recognized by the USTFCCCA and AVCA for excellence in athletic communications.
2022 Pete Nevins Award for Distinguished Achievement Winner – Rick Leddy (National Association of Basketball Coaches)
The Pete Nevins Award is a prestigious honor that is not voted on by the executive board each year, but rather is voted on by the former winners of the Nevins Award. It is awarded only in years that the former winners deem a worthy candidate has been nominated. It was established in honor of longtime East Stroudsburg sports information director Pete Nevins.
Rick Leddy joined the staff of the National Association of Basketball Coaches full-time in 2007 after serving as the secretary for the NABC Board of Directors since 1985, a role he still holds. He was the NABC Director of Public Relations until 2014 when he was elevated to Senior Director of Communications.
Leddy, a past president of EAST-COMM, was honored as the Irving T. Marsh Award winner in Baltimore in 2007. Prior to joining the NABC full-time, he spent 36 years at his alma mater, Southern Connecticut State University, serving as Sports Information Director until 1994 when he was promoted to Associate Director of Athletics. One of the first in the profession to produce media guides for women's sports, he established the Owls' initial athletics website.
During his tenure in New Haven SCSU won 10 NCAA Division II national championships, including six in men's soccer, three in men's gymnastics and one in women's basketball. He is a member of the CoSIDA Hall of Fame, the SCSU Athletics Hall of Fame and the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.
