By GAVIN MENDOZA, Senior Reporter
The Northwestern broadcast team won awards for its sports coverage in the Oklahoma Broadcast Education Association’s state competition.
Cade Kennedy, Jara Reeder and Caleb Powers formed a team that won first and second place for Video Sports Play-by-Play.
Connor Gray, Dax Benway and Benjamin Kliewer took third place for the award for Best Newscast.
Dr. Luis Antunes, a mass communication professor who teaches broadcast at Northwestern, said the team has continued to improve.
“I am incredibly proud of them, and I see this really fast learning curve where they are really mastering a lot of different skills in video production,” Antunes said.
Northwestern’s broadcast classes are hands-on, and Antunes lets students work independently.
“I usually just kind of introduce some of the concepts and ideas, and then it becomes very hands-on,” Antunes said.
“It pays off in ways like winning these awards, and we see the fruits of our labor,” Antunes said.
Kennedy, the sports editor of the Northwestern News, worked with Reeder on play-by-play coverage of the Northwestern women’s soccer team.
For the broadcast competition, the two were up against students from larger schools, including Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma.
Kennedy said he is grateful for the award, and winning against larger competitors made the award more meaningful.
“Broadcasting means a lot to me, and winning this award is really special to me,” Kennedy said. “I am glad I got to do this and work hard and have something to show for it.
“From a young age, broadcasting has been something I want to do for a career, and showing that, at a smaller school like this that you can win an award, is awesome.”
Reeder also said she is excited that their efforts paid off.
“I think to win something like this shows just how hard we work and makes all the extra hours outside of class worth the time,” Reeder said.
“I am thankful I got the opportunity to be put up for this award with Cade because we would work hard week in and week out to get all the videos perfect.”