North Central College student broadcasters earn national honors at competition

North Central College students earned five national awards and more than two dozen total honors during the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System (IBS) competition March 2 in New York City.

The students are all broadcasters for WONC-FM 89.1, North Central’s student-run radio station.

Taking home national awards for Best Sports Play-By-Play broadcast were broadcast communication majors and juniors Kevin Jackman of Glenview and Jeremy Rushing of Moline. Juniors Anna Kopsky of Bolingbrook and Andy Taylor of Naperville were tops in the nation in the Best Fundraising Campaign category, while Kopsky was also honored as the Best Promotions Director in the country. Senior Julie Valdez of Naperville received the Best News Director award.

Other North Central students honored with IBS awards were included Whitney Goodbred of Earlville, Adam Halick of Wood Dale, Kim Ippolito of Bartlett, Karl Jessen of Naperville, Kelsey King of Winfield, Jason Krug of Naperville, Meredith Lanan of St. Charles, Jay Modelski of Homer Glen and Noah Savage of Aurora. North Central students were awarded finalist trophies in 19 categories in which students were nominated for 26 total awards.
 
The awards were announced during the 73rd annual IBS conference, which featured more than 1,000 attendees from across the globe. John Madormo, assistant professor of broadcast communication at North Central and general manager of WONC, was recognized during the conference for his “dedication and service to American broadcasting” with the IBS Outstanding Service Award.

The IBS and Collegiate Broadcasters Inc. (CBI) are two national competitions available to college and university radio stations. WONC is among the most honored collegiate radio stations in America and has won national and state awards in commercial and collegiate competitions. The station has won 20 Marconi College Radio Awards; no other college or university radio station in the country has won more. With a 30-mile listening radius and potential listening audience of four million people, WONC’s pure rock music format broadcasts a mix of news, sports, traffic, music and public affairs programming 24 hours a day, year-round. Listen live at wonc.org.