Friday, September 14, 2012

BILLINGS, Mont. - Barrett Henderson has been selected as the new Director of Operations and Media Relations for Montana State University Billings.
 
Henderson, 29, joins the MSUB athletic staff after spending the past three years as the assistant athletic director and primary sports information, media relations, and marketing contact for Eastern Oregon University's 10 intercollegiate teams. He also oversaw all event management and guest services for Mountaineer athletics.
 
“I am very excited about the opportunity to join Montana State University Billings,” Henderson said. “I'm looking forward to working with the great staff at MSUB, and having a job on such a beautiful campus. Billings is a gorgeous city, and I couldn't be happier with the experience that lies ahead for my wife, Monica, and I. I want to thank MSU Billings for this opportunity and I'm anxious to start.”
 
At MSUB, Henderson will be responsible for coverage of volleyball, women's and men's cross country, women's and men's golf, men's basketball, women's and men's track and field, and softball, along with assisting in coverage of the Yellowjackets' seven other varsity teams' media relations.
 
Henderson also has been serving as the Cascade Collegiate Conference Sports Information Director. In his second year at EOU, he was a finalist for the Cascade Collegiate Conference Sports Information Director of the Year award. The following year, 2012, he won the award.
 
In 2010, Henderson was a member of the NAIA Branding Committee which features six Sports Information Directors from around the country that promote and market the NAIA Eligibility Center, PLAY NAIA. In 2011, he was named a coordinator for the NAIA Publications Writing Contest. Henderson had three of his feature stories rank in the top 10 of the Dr. W. Jack Bell Writing contest at NAIA-SIDA in 2012, while EOUSports.com was ranked the seventh-best website in the NAIA.
 
The Melbourne, Fla. native, is an active member of Co-SIDA, the national organization of Sports Information Directors, and was a member of NAIA-SIDA. Henderson assisted at the 2010 NCAA Div. 1 Men's Basketball Tournament, First and Second Rounds, in Spokane, Wash. The following year he assisted at the women's NCAA Div. 1 regional semifinals and finals in Spokane. In 2012, Henderson assisted at the NCAA Div. 1 Men's Basketball Tournament, First and Second Rounds, in Portland, Ore.
 
Henderson has been a contributing writer at the NAIA Div. 2 Men's Basketball National Championships in Point Lookout, Mo., and the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Marion, Ind.
 
Henderson graduated from EOU with a degree in media arts with a journalism concentration in 2007. While an undergraduate he worked as a student assistant for Eastern's sports information department. As a student, Henderson served as the Cascade Collegiate Conference's daily blog moderator on OregonLive.com, program director and station manager on EOU's school radio station, and was the sports editor at the school's student newspaper.
 
Henderson was instrumental in the forming of the Mountaineer Victory Walk before football games, as well as beginning the Midnight Madness basketball event at EOU, and the overall production of the annual Mounties Award Show honoring EOU athletic accomplishments. He also created and maintained the Eastern athletic Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube social media pages.
 
After graduating from Eastern Oregon, Henderson was hired at the La Grande Observer as a sports writer covering Union and Wallowa counties. He continued covering EOU athletics as assigned by the newspaper.
 
Henderson assisted media at the 2009 and 2010 University of Oregon and Oregon State University Civil War football games, Portland Trailblazer basketball games, and Boise State University football games.
 
Henderson's first day at Montana State University Billings will be Sept. 20.

“We are extremely excited to welcome Barrett as the newest member of the Yellowjacket staff,” stated Interim Athletic Director Krista Montague. “I am confident his years of experience in the sports information field will serve our university and department very well. We are looking forward to working with such a talented, experienced professional.”