The 2020-21 Washburn University Tennis Media Guide is intended to provide information for writers, broadcasters, sports editors, sports information personnel and fans who follow the Ichabods. Material in the guide was current as of the printing deadline of January 26, 2021. ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE The Washburn University Sports Information Office is located in room 253 inside Whiting Field House. Office hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday though Friday. Phone: 785-670-1791; Fax: 785-670-1091. You may e-mail the SID office at athletics@washburn.edu. ICHABODS ON THE INTERNET For the most up-to-the minute coverage of Ichabod tennis on the World Wide Web, go to wusports.com, the official web site of the Washburn University Athletic Department. In addition to updated results, statistics and game stories, you can find photos, player and coach biographies, schedule and roster information and weekly releases on the Ichabod tennis program.
MEDIA INFORMATION Washburn athletic communications office Gene Cassell is in his 22nd season as Washburn’s Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications after starting in December 1998. Cassell is a 1997 graduate from Northwest Missouri State University, where he graduated with a BS in journalism with a minor in broadcasting. Besides overseeing the media relations of Washburn’s 18 athletic teams, he is a vice chair of CoSIDA and Publications Contest Committee and served five years as a D2SIDA Regional Representative. He is the regional coordinator for the D2CCA allregion volleyball team, a former member of the Don Hansen Football Gazette all-region committee and a 17-year member of the MIAA Basketball Tournament Committee. The WU SID Office has received 146 citations for excellence for office publications, including 57 best in the nation, 50 second-place finishes and 15 best covers in the nation since arriving at Washburn. Cassell and his wife, Regina, live in Topeka with their two sons, Jacob and Jared. Regina is the director of student publications and is a professor in the Washburn mass media department.
Joy Smith joined the Washburn Athletic Department in August 2019 as a full-time assistant after spending the previous 10 months as an intern in the office. She is responsible for the media relations efforts of volleyball, women’s basketball and the baseball team. Before arriving at Washburn, Smith interned at the University of Central Missouri’s Athletic Department for the 2017-18 school year. She covered cross country, track and field and assisted with eight other varsity teams, including the 2017 Division II Women’s Soccer National Champions and the 2018 Division II Women’s Basketball National Champions. Smith graduated from Central Missouri with a bachelor’s of science in sport management with a minor in business administration. The Blue Springs, Mo., native resides in Topeka, Kan.
Alma Solís joins Washburn Athletics as the sports information intern for the 2020-21 season. Before Washburn, Solís maintained a student worker position in the media relations department at the University of the Incarnate Word from 201820, where she was the primary contact for the baseball team in the Southland Conference and the men’s soccer team in the Western Athletic Conference. Solís was the social media and public relations intern for the Baton Rouge Rougarou, a summer collegiate baseball team which competed in the Texas Collegiate League, in the summer of 2019. She also interned with the San Antonio Missions, then-AA affiliate of the San Diego Padres, in the summer of 2018. The Brownsville, Texas, native graduated with a bachelor’s in communication arts, concentration in journalism, from the University of the Incarnate Word in May 2020.
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