The episode is part three of a four-part narrative series detailing the key figures behind the U of I’s decision to cut four sports-Men’s and Women’s Swim and Dive, Men’s Tennis, and Men’s Gymnastics-in the fall of 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the world. I collaborated with four other fantastic students-Kellen Fife, Lily Kopp, Claire O’Donnell, and John Murphy-to help build this episode into a polished, professional product. The episode features interviews from Sage Ohlensehlen and Christina Kaufman, plaintiff athletes in the Title IX lawsuit against the U of I, Kareem Allaf, a tennis athlete that protested against the U of I, and plaintiff attorneys Jim Larew and Claire Diallo. The project was done for professor Adam Kempenaar.
DJ Vonnahme Feature Story
The story details the journey of breakout Iowa Hawkeyes tight end DJ Vonnahme, and how his rise to the top of Kirk Ferentz’s depth chart wasn’t without its challenges. The reporting process for the story was my favorite part, as I spoke to DJ’s mom, Becky, Iowa Offensive Coordinator Tim Lester, and even got to chat with DJ in-person at Iowa’s open spring practice in April. The story was written for professor Wayne Drehs.
Trio of Publishable Multimedia Projects
My final semester at the University of Iowa included me taking a capstone course taught by professor Charles Munro in which myself and three other classmates had to create three “publishable” multimedia projects in the form of print, audio, and video. Our projects met that standard by three media professionals: John Richard (Video); Sheila Brummer (Audio); Zack Kucharski (Print)).
DJ Vonnahme Feature Story
In this assignment, I was tasked with writing a feature story of no more than 1,000 words on an athlete, team, coach, or something else relating to sports. My topic was centered on how University of Iowa tight end DJ Vonnahme would handle the pressure and expectations of performing at a high level after his breakout redshirt freshman season in 2025. During the reporting process, I found out there was much more to his story on how he even got into the position he is in now, which became the focus of my piece. This feature story was written for a class taught by former renowned ESPN sports feature writer Wayne Drehs.
Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat Deadline Game Story
In this assignment, I was tasked with writing a short story on the postponed Chicago Bulls-Miami Heat game on January 8, 2026, at the United Center in Chicago. The assignment presented me with a unique situation of not only having to file my completed story on a 45-minute deadline, but also the fact that the game never happened due to condensation on the court. I covered this event in-person, and the story received positive feedback from my professor, renowned ESPN feature writer Wayne Drehs.
Lisbon Girls Wrestling Feature Story
For my final project in my Video Production course, I teamed up with classmate and friend, Sam Kupres, to create a three-minute feature story video on the growing Lisbon Girls Wrestling program. The program, which is currently in its second standalone season, has already sent a pair of wrestlers to the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state championships held at Xtreme Arena in Coralville, Iowa. This piece was made for our client, the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Sun newspaper, and was posted to their social media and YouTube channel.
Pilot Podcast Episode with AJ Reisetter
For my Podcasting for Sport and Recreation Professionals course, I was tasked with making at minimum, a 30-minute pilot podcast episode for a topic that had connection to the sports industry but would also be able to stand out in the ever-growing podcasting industry. I decided to take a behind-the-scenes approach and bring on one of the University of Iowa’s leading student broadcasters, AJ Reisetter. Together, we pooled our experience as amateur sports broadcasters into this pilot episode to help give those wishing to one day be a sports broadcaster tips and other advice so they can start their career on the right track.
Kinnick Stadium News Package
In this project, I was tasked with creating a minute-and-a-half news package for my Newscast Reporting and Writing course. I decided to dive into how historic Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa, is prepared for over 69,000 fans each gameday. I used a variety of shots, including two standups, in this news package, as well as an interview with Michael Patterson, the Associate Director of Facilities and Event Operations at the University of Iowa. This package was well-received, and was one of my most successful projects in the course in terms of grade.
Explainer Story
My final assignment in this course was writing an explainer story about how education policy in the United States may change from the Biden to Trump Administration after Trump won his second term as president last November. In the story, I use information from multiple online sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, World Health Organization and The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 to try to explain potential changes in America’s education policy under the second Trump Administration. In the story, I discuss the potential shuttering of the Department of Education, what Trump and Biden already did with education policy in their first terms and the performance of K-12 and college education during each president’s first term in office.
Iowa Football Walk-on Story
For my final story in the class, I decided to investigate how the recent House v. NCAA settlement may impact the University of Iowa football walk-on program since the program has a rich walk-on tradition. The House settlement aims to strip the current scholarship limits and instead replace it with a new roster limit of 105 players, almost certainly affecting players without scholarships. In the article, I use multiple sources to attempt to make meaning of the issue and the impacts the settlement may have on the UI football program.
