College Sports Information Directors of America

Pepperdine University Athletics Director Dr. John Watson announced the new staff members that will make up the school’s Sports Information Department today. Roger Horne is the new Sports Information Director and Karen Costello and Ronnie Zamora have been named to Assistant Sports Information Director positions.

“We are excited to have this talented Sports Information team in place as we head into our 2007-08 collegiate athletic season,” said Gary Moy, Associate Athletic Director for External Relations. “Roger, Karen and Ronnie bring a strong combination of experience and fresh energy to our Athletic Department, which will allow the Waves to further their tradition of successes.”

Horne, a native of Paradise, Calif., comes to Pepperdine after serving as an Assistant SID at Oregon State University. He is no stranger to the Southern California area, as he is a 1995 graduate of USC and was an assistant in the Trojans’ sports information office from 1996-2000. He also previously worked as the Sports Information Director at California Baptist University and the Director of Media Relations for the former San Jose Earthquakes in Major League Soccer. He holds a master’s degree in sport management from The Ohio State University.

Costello, originally from Chicago, Ill., was originally hired as an assistant cross country/track coach at Pepperdine in January, then moved into an interim sports information role this summer. Now full-time, she will continue to both coach and work in the SID office. She once served as the Director of Media Relations of the former Monterey Jaguars of the USISL and also worked as a sports writer for the Dixon (Calif.) Tribune and as a marketing representative for the McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. Costello, who holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Humboldt State, coached cross country at the high school and community college level for 17 years.

Zamora, a native of Brownsville, Texas, has most recently been volunteering in the SID office at the University of Texas-Brownsville, where his father is the Sports Information Director. He served as a full-time intern for the Houston Astros during the 2006 season. He is a 2005 graduate of the University of Texas. He worked in the Longhorns’ media relations office as a student and for a year after graduating and also volunteered at Concordia University-Austin.

Horne and Costello have already begun working at Pepperdine while Zamora is expected to start next week.