Freeland, Mich. -- On Wednesday (July 17), The Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association announced the 2018-19 honorees for the Robin Hartman Writing Award and the Tom Renner Associate SID Award.
Hope Sports Information student assistant Anna Mitchell has been selected as the recipient of the Hartman Award, while Alma's Emily Jodway was named the Renner Award winner.
The awards honor two long-time public and media relations directors and their service to the MIAA: the late Robin Hartman of Albion College, and Tom Renner of Hope College.
Anna Mitchell - 2018-19 Robin Hartman Writing Award
Anna Mitchell's feature story on Hope track and field student-athlete Mitchel Achien'g of Nairobi, Kenya not only setting a Hope record for long jump but the sophomore's journey to Holland, Michigan was selected as the winning piece for the 2018-19 Robin Hartman Writing Award. Mitchell becomes the first undergraduate to win the Hartman Award since 2012 and fifth since the award's inception in 2008.
Mitchell is a second-year student at Hope, with the 2018-19 academic year being Mitchell's first year working in the sports information office. A native of Brecksville, Ohio, Mitchell is majoring in business and will be interning this fall for LW Branding.
Robin Hartman served as Albion's sports information director from 1987 to 2001 and is remembered as a pioneer in small college sports information with the introduction of one of the first athletic websites. Hartman forged the path of using the internet as a source for streaming audio play-by-play. Hartman passed away in 2006.
The Hartman Award honors outstanding writing in a sports information capacity, either by a sports information director or assistant.
Emily Jodway - 2018-19 Tom Renner Associate SID Award
Emily Jodway graduated from Alma College this May after a four-year stint in the Sports Information department. Among Jodway's tasks for the Scots were game-day management, photography, statistics, publication, and writing. Jodway spent three seasons as the sports information contact for Alma men's and women's swimming & diving; Jodway also covered golf, tennis, cross country, track and field, and women's bowling.
During Jodway's four years with Alma, the native of East Lansing, Michigan also took on responsibilities in webstreaming broadcasts and research projects.
Jodway will continue working in athletic communications with a graduate assistant position at Western Michigan University.
Jodway is the fifth consecutive Alma student assistant to receive the Renner Award and sixth since the award's inception in 2008.
Tom Renner served as Hope's sports information director for 47 years before stepping down from his position in 2013. For 41 years, Renner was also the MIAA publicist (1967-2008) and still serves the conference as the league's historian.
The Renner Award recognizes outstanding efforts by a student assistant in MIAA member schools' sports information departments.
--MIAA--
