RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech Strategic Communications department claimed six awards in the 2024 Louisiana Sports Writers Association state SID contest, announced Sunday at the awards luncheon in Natchitoches.
 
The department garnered awards in several categories including release/feature story, game notes, and graphics.  LA Tech also picked up a pair of awards in the radio play-by-play category.
 
In the Division II Release/Feature (Men's Basketball/Baseball) category, Kane McGuire won second place for his feature on Bulldog forward Isaiah Crawford's quest for a big season despite his injury history.
 
McGuire also took home second place in the Division V (Game Notes) category for his Bulldog Basketball game notes against WKU.  The Associate A.D. for Strategic Communications has now won 20 awards in 12 years with the department, including nine in the release/feature story category.
 
Courtney Pugh of Donnie Bell Design swept first and second in the Division VII (College Graphics) category for a second straight year.  The first-place graphic depicted L'Jarius Sneed who was set to participate in Super Bowl LVIII with the Kansas City Chiefs.
 
"This deserves to be a poster!" said the judges.  "It's eye-catching, depicting a great tribute and highlights all that Vegas has to offer on Super Bowl Sunday."
 
 His second-place graphic was that of Isaiah Crawford earning an invite to participate in the Reese's DI All-Star Game.  Pugh has won seven awards as the primary graphic designer of LA Tech Athletics, including three first-place awards in the last four years.
 
Meanwhile, Dave Nitz and Malcolm Butler tied for third place in the Division VI (College Radio Play-by-Play) category.  Nitz' call was the walk-off win by the Diamond Dogs over Sam Houston while Butler's call was the late-game sequence as the Dunkin' Dogs defeated WKU in Bowling Green.  The duo has combined to win 17 awards in this category which was introduced in 2013.
 
This marked the 13th consecutive year LA Tech has garnered at least five awards with the department having now totaled 123 awards in the state contest over the past 20+ years.