BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Gannon University’s Kayla Peterson claims recognition as the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region Sports Information Director of the Year from the league office.
Selected by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (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 her first year as assistant director of athletics media relations at Gannon with responsibilities for men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s water polo, women’s basketball and softball, Peterson joined the Golden Knights’ following a two-year stint with Division I Eastern Illinois in Charleston, Illinois, as an athletic media relations graduate assistant. While at EIU, she was the primary contact for men’s soccer, women’s basketball and softball, while assisting with football and men’s basketball. As part of her day-to-day duties, she was responsible for statistics, maintenance of the athletics website, social media, and team publications and materials.
During her time with the Panthers, Peterson helped promote a number of athletes for all-conference (Ohio Valley and Summit League) and national honors, including 12 players of the week, four first-team selections, three second-team selections, two newcomer team selections, two National Fast Pitch Coaches Association honors, and the 2017 Summit League Goalkeeper of the Year. In addition to those honors, Peterson also helped three players earn All-Academic honors in their respective conference.
Prior to her arrival at Eastern Illinois, Peterson was a media relations intern with the Chicago Sky for two seasons. Her responsibilities ranged from writing game previews, recaps and feature stories, to making game day packets and credentials for visiting teams and media. On game days, she assisted the broadcasters, updated social media and managed postgame press conferences.
While with the Sky, Peterson was part of a group that created a social media campaign for the WNBA All-Star Game. She successfully worked with her team to get two of the five players nominated an All-Star bid. The success of this campaign and her social media efforts helped the Sky organization see tremendous growth across all media platforms, becoming one of the top teams in the league in online presence.
A native of Crystal Lake, Ill., Peterson graduated from Bradley University in May 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in communications. While at Bradley, she helped manage the Braves’ women’s basketball team. She received her master’s degree in communications from Eastern Illinois University in May 2019.
The award marks the fourth 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 fifth time a Gannon SID has been recognized by the league office following prior nods in 2014 (CWPA Women’s Division I/II SID of the Year – Will Nowadly), 2016 (MAWPC-West SID of the Year – Levi Rex & Dan Teliski), 2017 (MAWPC-West SID of the Year – Levi Rex) and 2018 (MAWPC-West SID of the Year – Josh Hill).
