Wednesday, June 24, 2015

NEW ORLEANS – Mark Moschetti of Seattle Pacific University has been named the 2015 winner of the Excellence in Communications Award for NCAA Division II, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced.
 
Launched in 2014, the USTFCCCA Excellence in Communications Award recognizes the efforts of athletics communications representatives at schools and conferences who have committed themselves to excellent coverage and support of collegiate track & field.
 
Moschetti, the assistant sports information director at SPU, consistently produces some of the most engaging, well-written, and informative coverage of collegiate track & field in the country – regardless of NCAA division.
 
"In my 35 years in the sports information business, including the last 15 at the conference level, I've never seen anyone provide the in-depth coverage for track and field that Seattle Pacific assistant SID Mark Moschetti does," 2014 Excellence in Communications honoree Bob Guptill wrote in a nomination. Guptill is the information director for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, of which SPU is a member.
 
Many of Moschetti's previews and recaps read like mini-features. They not only inform the reader about upcoming or recently completed meets, but also tell a story about an athlete or athletes involved in the competition. Many are often interwoven with video interviews with coaches and athletes, allowing the fans to get an inside perspective of the competition.
 
For the more dedicated SPU track & field fans and the local media, Moschetti also assembles a weekly packet of interesting and timely notes. These packets include specific information on when and how to follow the weekend's meet(s), historical information, 2015 team performance lists and a section entitled "Falcon Fodder" that delves even deeper into the backstories of SPU athletes and plotlines surrounding that weekend's competition.
 
Moschetti was an award-winning sportswriter in the Northwest, who served as sports editor and writer for the Valley Daily News and King County Journal. He wrote for the Auburn Reporter before joining the SPU athletics staff in September 2008. Along with his coverage of cross country and track & field, Moschetti is the primary contact for the Falcons volleyball and women's basketball teams.
 
Jake Most of Kentucky was named the NCAA Division I honoree and Dave Wrath of Augustana (Ill.) was the Division II receipient.
 
Moschetti, Most and Wrath are all mainstays at their respective athletic departments who have long championed track & field in the coverage of their schools' sports.