BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Gannon University’s Josh Hill snags laurels as the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region Sports Information Director of the Year award from the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) office.
Selected by the CWPA Director of Communications, the SID of the Year award is presented to individuals who “have achieved notable excellence in the field of water polo communications during the past academic year.”
In his first year as the Gannon Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations with responsibilities covering baseball, volleyball, men’s soccer, men’s and women’s water polo and women’s basketball, Hill arrived at Gannon after spending the last two years as the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Frostburg State University of the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC).
Hill assisted in the promotion and publicity of Frostburg State’s 21 varsity sports during his time with the Bobcats. He was also instrumental with the athletics department website, social media efforts and all department publications.
The Homer City, Pa., native served as the primary media contact for the Frostburg State baseball, women’s basketball and volleyball teams. He was the secondary contact for the football, men’s basketball and soccer programs. In addition, he served as the media contact for the 2017 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Volleyball Championship.
In 2016, Hill completed a production internship at ROOT Sports Pittsburgh (now AT&T SportsNet), the regional sports network affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Pirates. He also worked as a production assistant with FOX Sports for the 2016 United States Open held at Oakmont Country Club.
Hill worked as the lead broadcaster and producer for the Crimson Hawk Sports Network, an award-winning network run by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Department of Communications Media, throughout his undergraduate career. He was responsible for the scripting and execution of all pregame shows, game commentary, video highlights, promotional materials and oversight of student production assistants.
Hill worked as a student assistant within the IUP athletics department from 2013-16 and worked with the IUP athletics communications office, where his primary task was to assist in the rebrand of the IUP Athletics social media presence on Twitter. He also assisted in the creation of the IUP football media guide, hosted The Big Hit, a weekly in-studio sports television show that aired on IUP-TV, and served as the beat writer for the IUP football team.
Hill graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in communications media. He later earned a master’s degree in interdisciplinary education with a focus in business administration from Frostburg State in May 2018.
The award marks the third honor bestowed exclusively to MAWPC-West institutions following the division of the CWPA men’s teams into the MAWPC and Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) during the Summer of 2016.
Further, it marks the fourth time a Gannon SID has been recognized by the league office following prior nods in 2013-14 (CWPA Women’s Division I/II SID of the Year – Will Nowadly), 2016-17 (MAWPC-West SID of the Year – Levi Rex & Dan Teliski) and 2017-18 (MAWPC-West SID of the Year – Levi Rex).
