Ten current and former students are finalists for national awards from College Broadcasters Inc., the organization announced Aug. 27. 

“We can tell people here how good they are, that their content is excellent, that they’re improving, but when someone externally listens to that same content and acknowledges it as being one of the best in the country, that means something a little extra to our students,” said Scot Bertram, general manager of WRFH Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.

CBI named senior Lauren Smyth’s newscast “Lauren Smyth News” for Best Newscast or Sportscast; seniors Gavin Listro, Isabella Dix, and Alexandra Hall’s “I’ve Got Aux” for Best Regularly Scheduled Entertainment Program; junior Evan Mick’s “The Life of a Kicker” for Best Sports Reporting; and seniors Alex Deimel and Erin Osborne, junior Ty Ruddy, and alumni Logan Washburn and Jane Kitchen’s documentary “The Prison Games” for Best Documentary Long Form.

Media professionals and student media advisors judge hundreds of submissions, with the finalists being among the top four nationwide in their respective categories. 

Students in the radio program and the documentary filmmaking class have received five first place CBI awards in past years, twice for “Best Sports Reporting,” “Best Newscast or Sportscast,” “Best Documentary,” and “Best Regularly Scheduled Entertainment Program.”

“The categories that we are finalists in — those are things we try to excel at here,” Bertram said. “CBI is pretty competitive, and they have a limited number of categories so having even three finalists on the audio side is a really good result for us.”

Smyth previously received first place for Best Newscast or Sportscast Winner for the “Lauren Smyth Newscast” for the 2022 CBI Awards. 

“News isn’t the most glamorous job — it’s so ephemeral, especially at a station where we play a lot of longer shows. It’s actually interesting that people enjoy listening to it,” Smyth said.

Listro hosted the radio feature “I’ve Got Aux,” a show about discussing music, with Hall and Dix from 2020 to the spring of this year. 

“Usually we submit our episodes for music-specific programs, which makes a bit more sense,” Listro said. “But the fact that we beat out other talk shows — I know we’re just finalists, but there’s a lot of shows that get submitted, so I’m optimistic.” 

Lecturer in Journalism Buddy Moorehouse taught the documentary filmmaking class that created “The Prison Games,” a 2023 documentary about the Hillsdale football team’s games against Jackson Prison inmates in the 1960s and 1970s.

“You never know what you’re up against because these contests are done in a vacuum, and you’re competing against other colleges and universities,” Moorehouse said. “I look at it as a win already. Just being a finalist and being one of the top four documentaries in the country is an incredible accomplishment.”

Deimel was the director of videography for Prison Games last fall semester. 

“If we win the award, that’d be great, but being recognized is an honor itself,” Deimel said. “Mr. Moorehouse is a wonderful teacher and man, and much of the credit for this goes to him.”

CBI will announce the first place awards at the 2024 CBI National Student Media Convention in October.