AUM’s SID staff recognized as one of best in the nation
DALLAS, Texas (aumathletics.com) —- The Auburn Montgomery sports information staff was honored with the 2015-16 Gary Spitler Memorial Award for Excellence in Publications Monday, after earning 15 top-10 finishes, including four first-place showings, in the NAIA-SIDA Publications and Media Contest.
The Excellence in Publications Award marked the first time in school history the sports information team earned the distinction. Since the contest began in 1998-99, AUM has had 10 pieces earn the nation’s best, including nine in the last three years.
The annual contest is broken into three sub-categories – the Walt Alexander Publications Contest, the Dr. W. Jack Bell Writing/Social Media Contests and the Digital Media Production Contest. Those sub-categories produce a total of 20 awards, with the top 10 in each category being honored. The pieces were judged against other NAIA institutions and were voted on by a panel designated by the contest coordinator.
During the last calendar year, eight media guides were produced by the AUM staff, with all eight finishing among the top 10. Assistant Sports Information Director Austin Penny’s women’s soccer media guide took home the NAIA’s top honors in the fall sports category, while Sports Information Director Tim Lutz’s women’s basketball and baseball guides were selected the nation’s best in the winter and spring categories, respectively.
Additionally, Penny’s design work was recognized with three top-10 finishes in the multiple-sport schedule card category. His winter schedule card was selected the best of 20 entries. He also secured two top-10 rankings for website splash pages.
Sports Information Graduate Assistant Billy Mangum earned second-place finishes for his men’s basketball and softball publications, while also earning a pair of top-10’s for season/game video highlights.
“These awards would not have happened without the hard work of Austin Penny, Billy Mangum and sports information intern Jacob Horton,” said Lutz, who has overseen 56 top-10 finishes during his six-year tenure. “Being honored for our work is very humbling, especially since the awards are selected by our peers. Our sports information team takes pride in every media guide, promotional piece, game-day program or press release that we provide, so it is quite an honor to have our work recognized by others around the nation. I am really proud of our staff and know they will continue to raise the bar for covering our tremendous student-athletes and coaches.”
Below is a complete list of top-10 finishes by the SID team.
2015-16 NAIA-SIDA Publications and Media Contest Award Top-10 Finishes for AUM
Fall Brochure (26 entries)
1. Women’s Soccer
2. Men’s Soccer
3. Cross Country
Winter Brochure (22 entries)
1. Women’s Basketball
2. Men’s Basketball
Spring Brochure (14 entries)
1. Baseball
2. Softball
3. Tennis
Multi-Sport Schedule Cards (20 entries)
1. Winter
T8. Spring
T10. Fall
Best Splash Page or Wallpaper (21 entries)
2. Jatoria Carter 1,000 Points
T8. Iris Verweij Newcomer of the Year
Season/Game Highlights (28 entries)
6. Men’s Soccer vs. Mobile
10. Men’s Soccer vs. Keiser/UNOH
Gary Spitler Memorial Award for Excellence in Publications
