Below, see the schedule of the 2012 Special Award recipient feature stories which will be written by CoSIDA members throughout the spring. The full slate of 2012 Special Awards was announced March 2. All awards will be presented during the 2012 CoSIDA Convention in St. Louis (June 23-26).
• Individual feature story schedule for 2012 Special Awards
• CoSIDA St. Louis Convention awards presentation schedule
Michael MacEachern of Young Harris College to receive 2012 25-Year Award for service to the profession
by Tam Flarup, University of Wisconsin Director of Website Services
CoSIDA Special Awards Committee Chair
A 25-year CoSIDA honoree in 2012, Michael MacEachern has been a decorated athletic communications professional at several university stops throughout his career.
The sports information director at Young Harris College since 2011, he spent the previous 10 years as director at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Ga. While at SCAD, MacEachern was the recipient of the 2011 Clarence “Ike” Pearson Award, which is given annually to an outstanding NAIA Sports Information Director.
Although working with MacEachern for just a year, Young Harris Director of Athletics Randy Dunn had glowing comments to make about MacEachern.
“Michael is a professional in every sense of the word. His knowledge of the profession, his positive attitude and tireless work ethic are among the best I have been associated with in my thirty years of Athletics,” noted Dunn.
Tireless is something MacEachern embraces. While at SCAD, MacEachern served as the department’s webmaster for www.scadathletics.com in addition to his media relations responsibilities. That site received the NAIA's top honor in 2007-08 as the country's best website. He also served as the second vice-president on the NAIA-Sports Information Director Association Board for two years and was also the chairperson of the NAIA-SIDA Publications Contest Committee. CoSIDA and the NAIA-SIDA have recognized MacEachern’s publications 22 times.
Prior to SCAD, he served as sports information director for five years at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C. He was the sports information director for eight years at the University of South Carolina at Spartanburg (now the University of South Carolina Upstate), and served one year as assistant sports information director at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C.
The Charleston, S.C., native is a 1987 graduate of the College of Charleston, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. While there, he served as a student assistant in the sports information office for three seasons.
A longtime member of CoSIDA, MacEachern has served as a district or national coordinator on CoSIDA’s Capital One Academic All-America® committee since 1988. He served four seasons as the national coordinator for NCAA Division II men’s soccer statistics. He is also in his first year as a member of CoSIDA's College Division Management Advisory Committee.
Mark Beckenbach, national Co-Chair of the Academic All-America Committee said, "I've had the pleasure of working with Michael on the Academic All-America committee for more than 20 years, and his commitment and dedication to the Academic All-America program have been outstanding. He's been a rock-solid and reliable national coordinator for some time, and this year he took on a publicity coordinator role, helping us improve our efforts in media outreach and marketing."
MacEachern was the official scorekeeper for the Savannah Sand Gnats, the Class A minor-league affiliate of the New York Mets, for five seasons. He also was an official scorekeeper for the Hickory (N.C.) Crawdads, the Class A minor-league affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, for three seasons.
MacEachern has covered local sports as a newspaper stringer for both the Herald-Journal in Spartanburg, S.C., and the Hickory Daily Record. MacEachern also worked as a press steward for the baseball venue at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta.
MacEachern resides in Hiawassee, Ga., along with his nine-year-old labrador retriever, Roddy.
Individual recipient feature story schedule for 2012 Special Awards
General 2012 Special Awards release
March
Mon., 5: Kim Wenger (Centennial Conference): Rising Star Award (College Division) – by Ann King (The Sage Colleges)
Wed, 7: Malcolm Moran: Jake Wade Award: by Joe Hornstein, CoSIDA 2nd Vice President
Fri., 9: Maurice Williams (Hampton University): Rising Star Award (University Division) – by Ed Hill, Jr. (Howard University)
Mon. 12: Bernie Cafarelli (Notre Dame): 25-Year Award - by Debbie White (Old Dominion)
Wed. 14: Peter Schlehr (Towson University): Lifetime Achievement Award – by Ann King (The Sage Colleges)
Fri. 16: Debbie Copp (University of Oklahoma): CoSIDA Hall of Fame - by Ann King (The Sage Colleges)
Mon. 19: Chuck Sadowski (University of Bridgeport): 25-Year Award - by Ann King (The Sage Colleges)
Wed. 21: Bob Condron (USOC): Lifetime Achievement Award and Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award - by Mike Mahon, former Drake & South Dakota SID
Fri. 23: Jack Neumann (University of Calgary): Warren Berg Award - by Paul Carson, former University of Toronto SID
Mon. 26: John Lewandowki (Michigan State): 25-Year Award - by Jamie Weir-Baldwin (Michigan State)
Wed. 28: Kennan Timm (Wisconsin-Oshkosh): CoSIDA Hall of Fame - by Tim Peterman (UW-Eau Claire)
April
Mon., 2: Tom Di Camillo (Pac West Conference, Central Arizona College): CoSIDA Hall of Fame - by Dan Drutz (Saint Peter's College)
Wed., 4: Dave Wohlhueter (CoSIDA treasurer, Cornell-retired): Lester Jordan Award - by Dan O'Connell (Towson University)
Fri., 6: B.L. Efring (Southern Maine): 25-Year Award - by Sheila Stevenson (Rowan University)
Mon., 9: Lawrence Fan (San Jose State): CoSIDA Hall of Fame and Arch Ward Award - by Jack Neumann (University of Calgary)
Wed., 11: Sue Edson (Syracuse): CoSIDA Hall of Fame - by Larry Dougherty (Temple University)
Fri., 13: Mark Bankert (Malone University): 25-Year Award - by Mike Leggert (Malone University)
Mon., 16: Rich Herman (Clarion): Bob Kenworthy Award - by Bob McComas (Slippery Rock)
Fri. 20: Michael MacEachern (Young Harris College): 25-Year Award - by Tam Flarup (Wisconsin)
Mon., 23: Shelly Poe (Ohio State): Trailblazer Award
Tue., 24: Shirley Jones Hill (Southern Mississippi): 25-Year Award
Wed., 25: Joe Dier (Mississippi State): 25-Year Award
Fri. 27: Roy Pickerill (Kentucky Wesleyan): 25-Year Award
Mon., 30: Bob Noss (Wright State): 25-Year Award
May
Wed., 2: Wallace Dooley (formerly of Tennessee State): Lifetime Achievement Award
Fri., 4: Jeff Nelson (Penn State): Bill Esposito Award
Mon., 7: Bill Turnage (Florida Southern): Lifetime Achievement Award
Wed., 9: Herb Vincent (LSU): 25-Year Award
Fri., 11: Mike Mahon (formerly of Drake & South Dakota): Lifetime Achievement Award
Mon., 14: Bill Wagner (DePauw): 25-Year Award
Wed., 16: Fred Huff (formerly of Southern Illinois-Carbondale): CoSIDA Hall of Fame [Veteran Award Committee recipient]
Fri., 18: Phil Haddy (University of Iowa): Lifetime Achievement Award
Mon., 21: Dave Geringer (University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth): 25-Year Award
Wed., 23: Charles "Chuck" Prophet (deceased; formerly of Mississippi Valley State): CoSIDA Hall of Fame
Fri., 25: Robert Wilson (Florida State): 25-Year Award
Awards to be presented during CoSIDA St. Louis Convention, St. Louis, Missouri Sunday, June 24: Kickoff Luncheon
Awards presented: 25-Year Awards; Trailblazer, Kenworthy Community Service, Rising Star (University and College Divisions), Keith Jackson honors
Monday, June 25: (two award presentations)
CoSIDA Hall of Fame luncheon
Awards presented: Esposito, Lifetime Achievement, CoSIDA Hall of Fame awards
Capital One Special Awards Gala (dinner/ceremony)
Awards presented: Arch Ward, Warren Berg, Jake Wade, Lester Jordan, Enberg awards; Capital One Academic All-America® Hall of Fame induction