03/15/16 te/ks
HAYS, Kan. -- Digital media students from the Department of Informatics at Fort Hays State University grabbed ten 1st place awards and two 2nd place awards during the annual student media competition sponsored by the Kansas Association of Broadcasters.

Students submitted their projects online, and they were judged online by various judges across the state. The winners will receive their awards at the KAB seminar and awards ceremony on April 5 at the Emporia State University Memorial Union.

Todd Elsen, executive producer of the Tiger Media Network, which is the converged outlet for digital media at Fort Hays State, said the student winners were rewarded in the annual competition for their hard work and dedication. The students participated in a contest where the entrants came from universities and community colleges in Kansas, including the University of Kansas, Kansas State University and all the other universities in the Kansas Board of Regents system.

"Students from the Digital Media Program in the FHSU Department of Informatics have a proud history of performing well in the annual KAB competition," he said. "Student participation and improvement has been dramatic since 2013, when they grabbed one 1st place, one 2nd place, and three honorable mentions. This year the dramatic improvement continues despite multiple program and faculty changes, with a dozen 1st and 2nd place showings. The Digital Media students continue to excel at their craft and show that Fort Hays State University is a destination of choice."

This year's award winners from Fort Hays State:
• 1st Place, DJ Personality for Radio or News Anchor for TV, DJ Tank Show, Tim Abrams. Abrams, a Derby junior, is in his first year at Fort Hays State after transferring from Butler County Community College, where he started the DJ Tank Show. He is also one of the creators and host of the The Wave, FHSU's local artist music program that airs on TMN TV and online.
• 1st Place, Station Promotion Announcement, The Wave, Season 2 Premiere, Ricky Kerr. Kerr, a Wichita junior, is one of the creators and producers of The Wave.
• 1st Place, Sports Play-by-Play, FHSU v. SBU Women, Tiger Sports Network Production Team. The Tiger Sports Network Production Team produced FHSU football and basketball this season and just returned from the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City, where they produced the pregame, halftime, postgame and press conferences that were streamed live to the world via the Internet.
• 1st Place, Entertainment Program, Local Spice Episode 1, Sake 2 Me Sushi, Marshall Slough and Kaycee Beilman. Slough, a Goodland junior, and Beilman, a Hays senior, created Local Spice with the goal to focus on the food scene in Hays and the surrounding area.
• 1st Place, 60 Second Commercial, PSA or non-commercial donor announcement, Kansas CASA with Bill Snyder, Tyler Parks. In addition to his work on this project, Parks, an Elkhart graduate student, has led and directed the Tiger Sports Network production team.
• 1st Place, Station Promotion Announcement, Mineral Water Bowl, Tyler Parks.
• 1st Place, Complete Sports Feature, Transfers (FHSU Football), Tyler Parks.
• 1st Place, Sportscast, FHSU vs. UCM, Feb. 4, 2016, Tyler Parks.
• 1st Place, DJ Personality for Radio or News Anchor for TV, KAB Anchor Performance, Garrett Sager. Sager, a Salina graduate student, has been a play-by-play announcer and color analyst for the Tiger Sports Network for the past several years.
• 1st Place, Sports Play by Play, UCO vs FHSU, Garrett Sager.
• 2nd Place, 30 Second Commercial, PSA or non-commercial donor announcement, Voting, Ricky Kerr.
• 2nd Place, Complete Sports Feature, "The Return of Craig Nicholson," Garrett Sager.

For more information, contact Todd Elsen at 785-628-5240 or at tcelsen@fhsu.edu.