BATON ROUGE — The national champion LSU track and field program strives for excellence both on and off the track, and the quality of its publications is no exception as its media guide for the 2008-09 season is ranked among the nation’s best yet again in the annual publications contest sponsored by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
The LSU Track and Field Media Guide has been voted the third-best media guide in the nation in the women’s category, while it has also earned the award for Best Cover design for 2008-09.
This marks the fourth time in five years that the LSU Track and Field Media Guide has received a national award in the annual CoSIDA Publications Contest as the media guide was ranked No. 3 nationally for the 2004-05 season, No. 7 nationally in 2005-06 and No. 5 nationally in 2006-07.
Not only that, but this is the second time in three years that the LSU Track and Field Media Guide has won Best Cover as the 2006-07 edition also featured the nation’s top cover design.
The 136-page media guide was written and edited by Associate Sports Information Director Will Stafford with design and layout provided by publications graphic design coordinator Krystal Bennett. The guide also features photography by LSU staff photographer Steve Franz and Bryan Wayne, including Franz’s photo used in the cover design.
The cover features a unique design that was created by Bennett and Stafford that includes a photo of All-American sprinter Samantha Henry receiving the baton from fellow All-American sprinter Gabriel Mvumvure illustrating the combined men’s and women’s track and field program at LSU.
The cover also highlights the program’s impressive 31 NCAA titles, 46 SEC titles, 120 individual NCAA champions, 236 All-American athletes and 1,126 total All-America selections all-time.
The guide is a complete source of up-to-date information on the 2006-07 team, as well as a source of archived information and records highlighting the 109-year history of LSU track and field used by media outlets and fellow sports information/media relations offices. It is also a valuable tool in recruiting for members of the LSU coaching staff.
The judging is based on eight categories, including team information, season in review, program history, general information, conference information, graphic design and editorial. The guides are critiqued by three pre-selected judges from outside organizations.
This is Stafford’s second media guide to receive national acclaim by CoSIDA during the 2008-09 athletic year as he also served as the editor of the LSU Men’s Golf Media Guide that earned a No. 2 national ranking while also receiving the award for Best Cover design.
In fact, LSU has published eight media guides this season that have been ranked nationally, while a total of four media guides have also received the award for Best Cover design.
CoSIDA has ranked LSU’s baseball, volleyball and men’s tennis media guides No. 4 nationally in it Publications Contest for 2008-09, while LSU’s media guides for men’s basketball and women’s golf are ranked No. 5 and its media guide for women’s tennis is ranked No. 7 nationally. Baseball and men’s tennis have also won awards for Best Cover design.
The guide, along with those of all 20 varsity athletic programs at LSU, can be viewed online at www.LSUsports.net. The awards will be presented at CoSIDA’s annual convention in San Antonio in July. CoSIDA is an organization designed to empower Sports Information Directors in universities across the country in their roles as sports information professionals.