Nick Askew-2016-17 CCC Sports Information Director of the Year
Northwest Christian’s Nick Askew Named Sports Information Director of the Year
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Northwest Christian University's Nick Askew has been named the Cascade Collegiate Conference Sports Information Director of the Year, the league office announced.
The annual award is voted on by the sports information directors of the CCC, recognizing outstanding work in promotion, work with CCC and NAIA championships events, publicity and marketing efforts.
"Congratulations to Nick Askew on his selection as the Cascade Conference Sports Information Director of the Year," stated Commissioner Rob Cashell. "The recognition by his peers is a testament to Nick’s hard work and dedication to NCU, as well as the CCC and the NAIA.”
Askew, completing his 11th year with the Beacons, conceptualized and created with an NCU graphic designer a universal graphic campaign for 2016-17 athletics, including schedule posters, schedule cards, game programs, summer camp brochures, and more. He also expanded the use of social media with a focus on infographics that matched the campaign.
“I am extremely honored to accept this award and I am truly blessed because it is something voted on by my peers,” stated Askew. “We work in the greatest conference in the NAIA with an amazing group of Sports Information Directors and I am lucky to count myself as part of their company. Thank you to the CCC SID’s for your support and thank you to our Athletic Director Corey Anderson and Vice President Michael Fuller for believing in me and creating an incredible environment at NCU to be a part of. The NCU student-athletes, coaching staff and administration make my job easy. Promoting the amazing accomplishments of our teams is an absolute joy.”
Askew led the Sports Information coverage for the CCC men’s and women’s soccer championships hosted by NCU for the second straight year. Oversight included coordinating and scheduling a group of CCC SIDs and numerous student-workers for media, statistics, video and website coverage for two concurrent fields over three days and enabling live webcasts for all 14 games. Askew also helped with organization of and announcing at the tournament banquet, where conference award winners were recognized.
NCU additionally hosted two men’s basketball playoff games and served as the host school for the men’s and women’s golf championships, at which Askew served as the media coordinator and head statistician.
“Nick has been instrumental in the growth and success of NCU Athletics over the years and it is great to see him honored by our conference with this well-deserved award,” stated NCU Director of Athletics Corey Anderson. “While the CCC has great experience and depth with our Sports Information departments, Nick is looked at by all with great respect due to his experience, quality of work and high level of integrity. While Nick is a very humble person, I know that he is very honored to represent NCU Athletics with the award.”
In terms of publicity, Askew secured multiple feature stories and regular event highlights coverage from local TV affiliates ABC-KEZI, CBS-KVAL, NCB-KMTR and Fox-KLSR, and local Eugene newspaper, the Register Guard. His volleyball preview story led to a live interview with student-athlete Haley Damian on KEZI's "Inside the PAC,” a weekly show which primarily focuses on the Pac-12. NCU’s top-ranked women’s cross country team, the 2015 National Champions, was featured across several affiliates as it remained the No. 1 team in the country before placing second in 2016. He directed the efforts to get Brendyn Taylor selected for participation in the NAIA Shoot-and-Slam Dunk contest at the NAIA Div. I Championships. Other highlights included procuring a Sportscenter Top-Ten play with Taylor’s dunk against SOU and a feature column story in Sports Illustrated on men’s basketball Player of the Year Jay Mayernik, which was featured on the "Faces in the Crowd" page.
Active nationally, Askew is a member of NAIA-SIDA statistics committee and serves on the voting committees for NAIA cross country and track national athletes of the week.
Askew will go on to represent the CCC as the league nominee for the national SID of the Year Award.