The Northwestern State sports information office received six total awards on Sunday afternoon at the annual Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s contest, concluding the LSWA’s annual conference.

 

Assistant athletic director for media relations Jason Pugh led the way with three awards, one second and a pair of third place honors, with assistant sports information director Brad Welborn and assistant director for communications each grabbing third-place awards. NSU Director of Photography Chris Reich picked up a second-place honor for his work.

 

Pugh earned the runner-up spot in Division I for his feature story on assistant football coach Perry Carter’s devastating injury during his player career that helped forge his path to coaching and NSU.

 

His pair of third-place honors came from both a feature story and from his preparation and design of game notes for Demon baseball.

 

The 2024 Fork Cancer feature told the story of freshman pitcher Kevin Robinson and his pink glove representing his mother’s battle with cancer and the impact and guidance she continues to offer him on a daily basis.

 

Pugh’s wealth of knowledge on NSU baseball, covering the team for nearly a decade, along with easy-to-read and well-designed game notes garnered him a third-place honor in Division V. The notes from NSU’s home series against HCU from April 26-28 were this year’s award winner for 
Pugh.

 

Welborn received a third-place finish in Division III for his story on women’s basketball player Karmelah Dean’s injury-laden first two seasons at NSU leading to a breakout senior season in 2023-24.

 

Zenk had his story on NSU women’s track standout Lynell Washington carrying on and honoring the legacy of her late father throughout the remainder of her collegiate career recognized with a third-place finish in Division IV.

 

Reich picked up his third straight LSWA award in Division VIII with a second-place honor for capturing the game-ending home run celebration from Daniel Young and the rest of the NSU baseball team that secured a sweep of HCU on April 28.