Lehigh's EIWA coverage nominated for major award
5/21/2010 3:21:00 PM | Men's Wrestling
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh Athletics' coverage of the 2010 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA) Championships at Stabler Arena has been nominated for a 2010 College Sports Media Award. The awards will be presented on June 8 at the College Sports Video Summit in Atlanta, and are sponsored by the Sports Video Group (SVG) and the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA). In their second year of existence, the College Sports Media Awards recognize excellence in video production at various levels of college sports. Lehigh's EIWA coverage was nominated with four other finalists in the "Best Live Game or Live Event: Collegiate 2" category, which also features Appalachian State University, the National Junior College Athletic Association, The Southland Conference, and St. Cloud State University.
"We are truly humbled to be recognized by the Sports Video Group as a nominee for a 2010 College Sports Media Award," said Jeff Tourial, Lehigh's Director of Broadcast & Multimedia, who served as executive producer of the coverage. "We received a lot of positive feedback from fans of the 13 EIWA schools who tuned in to our broadcasts that weekend, and I'm glad we were able to shine a positive light on both Lehigh University and the sport of wrestling. I particularly want to thank Katie Matis for her hard work in pulling the weekend together under pretty challenging circumstances."
Well over ten thousand fans tuned into the coverage – more than 14 hours over two days – on Lehighsports.com. Lehigh streaming partner Yahoo! College Broadcast streamed the event and archived it for later viewing. With limited staff and a small budget, Lehigh was successfully able to cover four mats with three cameras. Steve Lomangino, the radio voice of Lehigh wrestling, anchored the coverage with help from Lehigh television broadcasters Doug Heater and Kyle Berger. Berger used a wireless microphone and roamed the Stabler Arena floor, bouncing from mat to mat throughout the first three sessions.
"We faced several challenges leading up to our broadcasts," said Multimedia Coordinator Katie Matis – who served as the producer and director of Lehighsports.com's coverage, "but I'm really pleased with the way things turned out. Our crew was great, and we really had a lot of fun with the event."
In addition to Lehigh's student staff being away on spring break during the coverage, Matis and her production team were further challenged by both Lehigh basketball teams concurrent participation in post-season play, further siphoning away staff and equipment resources.
The College Sports Media Awards are divided into three categories competing for "Best Live Event," "Special Feature," and "Promotional Video." The videos are divided into three divisions: Collegiate 1 covers schools and conferences that compete in Division I FBS football; Collegiate 2 covers all other schools and conferences; and the third category is Corporate/Media, which includes broadcasters and advertising agencies.
The 2010 College Sports Media Awards will be presented on June 8, 2010 during the College Sports Video Summit in Atlanta, Ga.
