By TTU Sports Information
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The biggest role of a collegiate sports information office is to chronicle the events of the institution's athletics department, telling to stories of its programs, coaches and student-athletes and record the history of what its products have done.
Over the years, there have been a lot of stories to tell and certainly many more to come.
The Tennessee Sports Writers Association announced its annual writing awards on Friday with Tennessee Tech coming away with awards in both categories in the Sports Information division.
Thomas Corhern was named the first-place recipient in the Best Event Writer category, as well as the second-place finisher in the Best Feature Writer category.
The stories submitted for consideration had to have been written during the 2021 calendar year.
Corhern's submissions for Best Event Writer included: the February 21 recap on the Golden Eagle football team's season-opening victory over Austin Peay in the 2021 spring football era (link); the October 2 writeup on Tech's thrilling comeback victory to top Southeast Missouri 28-17 behind David Gist's 133 rushing yards and two touchdowns (link); and the December 1 report on the Tech women's basketball team in its contest against No. 11 Tennessee (link).
The judge's comments: "The writer had punchy, creative leads that got readers quickly into stories that gave you more than who, what, when and why."
In Best Feature Writer, the nod went to Vanderbilt's Chad Bishop. Corhern's entries included Jamaal Thompson's efforts for equality en route to the Ohio Valley Conference's Steve Hamilton Sportsmanship Award (link) and head football coach Dewayne Alexander's work to protect the game as a member of the NCAA Committee for Ethical Conduct and Sportsmanship (link).
The awards will be handed out on July 14 at the organization's Hall of Fame induction and awards banquet at Cumberland University.
It is the 15th straight year that Corhern has been honored by the TSWA, including his 10-year tenure at the Cookeville Herald-Citizen. It is also the 15th first-place trophy awarded to Corhern in the organization's contest. He also previously took home a second-place and two third-place finishes in the Gary Lundy Writer of the Year category in Division II (newspapers under 15,000 circulation).
Corhern has also previously been honored by the Tennessee Press Association, as well as the College Sports Information Directors of America as the District 4 (Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Alabama) winner for Best Event Coverage in its Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest.
Corhern, 40, is beginning his seventh year working for the Tech Department of Athletics, serving as the primary contact for football, women's basketball and softball, while also working with all 15 programs under the department's umbrella.
