The American Volleyball Coaches Association honored Ohio State's D.C. Koehl as its finalist in the sport information category of the AVCA Grant Burger Media Award.
Koehl joined broadcaster Scott Robbs, writer Sandy Gohlston and the CSTV.com Web site in receiving the recognition.
Koehl has worked with women’s and men’s volleyball at Ohio State for 32 years, having worked full-time for the Buckeyes since 1973. In addition to his work at OSU, he is the director of media relations for the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association of which the men’s volleyball program is a member.
Koehl was honored by USA Volleyball in 2000 as its recipient of the Boyden Award for service to the promotion of volleyball on a national level.
“D.C. has been in the business of sports information for over 30 years, and he has not forgotten the basic tools to media information even in this advanced technological era,” Bill Kauffman of the AVCA said. “He still utilizes the personal touch through phone calls to pitch an idea. He has provided ideas on how to better promote the AVCA and volleyball in general to the sports information community, a key support group in getting the volleyball message out to the media.
"D.C. not only provides quality work at a Big Ten school in women's volleyball, but he also serves as sports information contact for the Buckeyes men's volleyball team and serves as its league's public relations director. This triple-duty of volleyball sports information keeps D.C. on his game throughout the season, and has become a valuable resource to the AVCA for volleyball information and guidance as to what other SIDs are thinking.”
The volleyball coaches also recognized SIDs on a regional basis. A list of the NCAA SID region honorees for the AVCA Grand Burger Media Award is listed below:
NCAA Division I Sports Information Director Region Honorees
Central Region Debbie Darrah Texas A&M University
East Region Stephen Gorchov Hofstra University
Mideast Region Jen Armson Penn State University
Midwest Region Kevin O’Connor University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Northeast Region Bo Rottenborn University of Notre Dame
Pacific Region Vicky Hammond University of Southern California
South Region Mike Vietti University of Florida
West Region Chris DeConna Long Beach State University
NCAA Division II Women’s Sports Information Director Region Honorees
Atlantic Region Tom Di Camillo West Chester University
Great Lakes Region Don Owen Northern Kentucky University
North Central Region Tom Nelson St. Cloud State University
Northeast Region Mark Mentone New Jersey Institute of Technology/
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference SID
Pacific Region Jonathan Gordon Central Washington University
South Region Keith Smith Barry University
South Central Region Joe Moore Central Missouri State University
Southwest Region Chris Day Adams State College
NCAA Division III Women’s Sports Information Director Region Honorees
Central Region Nick Povalitis Washington University in St. Louis
Great Lakes Region Scott Wortman Ohio Northern University
Mid-Atlantic Region Luke Stillson Gettysburg College
Midwest Region Layne Pitt University of Wisconsin-Stout
New England Region Dick Quinn Williams College
New York Region Mike Salerno SUNY New Paltz
South Region John Arenberg Emory University
West Region Will Darity University of La Verne
NCAA Division I-II Men’s Sports Information Director Region Honorees
EIVA Jen Armson Penn State University
MIVA D.C. Koehl The Ohio State University/
Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association SID
MPSF Kyle Chilton Brigham Young University
NCAA Division III Men’s Sports Information Director Region Honorees
EIVA Joel Cookson Juniata College
NECVA Ira Thor New Jersey City University/
North Eastern Collegiate Volleyball Association SID