BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Harvard University’s Samantha Ralphs collects recognition as the Northeast Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) 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.”
Ralphs joined Harvard Athletics as an Athletics Communications Intern in August 2018. She is responsible for softball, men’s and women’s fencing and men’s and women’s water polo. She also serves as the secondary contact for men’s basketball.
Before joining the Crimson’s athletic communications staff, Ralphs was a two-year member of the University of Maine softball team prior to a three-year tenure on the Western Illinois University softball team. At Western Illinois, Ralphs worked on the facilities and volunteered in the Leatherneck Athletic Communications office working with all 13 fall and winter sports, primarily with men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s golf and men’s and women’s cross country.
A native of O’Fallon, Illinois, Ralphs spent two years at the University of Maine before transferring to Western Illinois to complete and earn a sports broadcasting degree in 2017. The following year she graduated with her Master’s Degree in Sports Management from Western Illinois University.
The award marks the third honor bestowed exclusively to NWPC institutions following the division of the CWPA men’s teams into the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) and NWPC during the Summer of 2016.
She is the 10th Harvard SID to earn an award in the sport of water polo joining Josh Schur (2016-17 CWPA Women’s Division I), Megan Kelly (2015-16 CWPA Men’s Northern Division), Michael Black (2014-15 CWPA Women’s Division I, 2013-14 CWPA Women’s Division I), Achilles Carmenate (2014-15 CWPA Women’s Division I), Meghan Moore (2013-14 CWPA Women’s Division I), Dan Scotchmer (2012-13 CWPA Men’s Northern Division; 2012-13 CWPA Men’s Northern Division), Mark Rivera (2010-11 CWPA Women’s Southern Division), Robert Rossi (2009-10 CWPA Women’s Northern Division) and Tim Williamson (2008-09 CWPA Women’s Northern Division) as the office has combined for a total of 12 accolades since 2008.
