College Sports Information Directors of America

Recent Southern Miss graduate Mike Martinez has been named as assistant director of athletic media relations/internet specialist, Southern Miss Director of Athletic Media Relations Mike Montoro announced today that recent. "Mike is an outstanding addition to our staff with his writing ability and his experience designing and working with web sites," Montoro said. "He has worked on our staff for the past four years as an undergraduate and graduate student and has a strong work ethic. He impressed me with his ability to balance school, work in the office and a full-time job at the newspaper all at the same time without slacking in any area. I believe he is very professional at such a young age and has a great future ahead of him." Martinez comes to Southern Miss after serving five years as an award-winning sports writer and sports editor. He also served as a graduate assistant with the Athletics Media Relations office at Southern Miss for two years. Martinez, a New Orleans, La., native, graduated from Southern Miss in May with a master's of science degree in public relations. He received his bachelor's of science degree in coaching and sport administration in December of 2001, also from Southern Miss. Throughout the past five years, Martinez has worked in the sport journalism industry in the Hattiesburg area. He served as a sportswriter and sports editor for the USM student newspaper, The Student Printz, in the fall of 1999, while also working as a part-time writer for The Times of South Mississippi and The Petal News in Hattiesburg. Martinez became the sports editor of The Times and The Petal News in Aug. 2002 and held that position until July, when he became the sports editor for The Independent in Hattiesburg. While at The Times, Martinez organized coverage of local high school and collegiate athletics, as well as maintaining the newspaper's two web sites, thetimeswire.com and petalnews.com. He has received numerous awards from the Mississippi Press Association for writing, including first-place awards for Best Sports Feature Story in 1999 and 2001. The Times' sports section also won three first-place awards for Best Sports Section during his tenure, the last with Martinez as editor. While at Southern Miss, Martinez worked as a student and graduate assistant, serving as the primary contact for women's soccer and as a secondary contact for baseball. His duties now include serving as the primary contact for softball, while also working with football, volleyball and men's basketball, as well as managing content for the department's web site, SouthernMiss.com. He has been a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America, the Mississippi Press Association, and the Public Relations Student Society of America. The 24-year-old is married to the former, Kimberly Nahmens, of Slidell, La.