By Ball State Communications—
MUNCIE, IN — Ball State University students and faculty continue to earn regional and national recognition for excellence in media production, storytelling, and sports broadcasting.
The University’s College of Communication, Information, and Media (CCIM) was honored Saturday night at the 2026 NATAS Central Great Lakes Regional Emmy® Awards in Cleveland, where Ball State students and faculty received two Regional Emmy® Awards and additional nominations for professional media work.
Nate Locker, a Ball State Sports Link student, earned a Regional Emmy® Award in the Sports Story — Short Form or Long Form Content category for “Every Step — The Annika Klauss Story.” The honor marks the ninth professional Emmy® Award earned by students from Ball State Sports Link.
Chris Flook, a senior lecturer in the Department of Media, also received a Regional Emmy® Award in the Graphic Arts — Visual Effects, Motion Effects, Compositing category for “It’s A Wonderful Life Title Sequence: IPR Holiday Drama.” It is Mr. Flook’s ninth Regional Emmy® Award.
“This recognition reflects the exceptional work happening across CCIM, where our students are creating professional-quality content while learning from faculty who are accomplished leaders in their fields,” said Dr. Kristen McCauliff, dean of CCIM. “These awards, rankings, and national honors demonstrate the strength of Ball State’s immersive approach to media education and the talent of the students, faculty, and staff who bring these projects to life.”
Ball State also received two additional nominations in the 2026 Regional Emmy® Awards. Mr. Locker was nominated in the Photographer — News or Sports category for “Cinematography Reel,” and Sports Link’s “Together (2025)” was nominated in the Sports Program — Post Produced or Edited category. “Together” was produced by Jude Kieffer, Jordan Klimes, Ashlynne Owens, and Mr. Locker.
The professional Emmy® recognition comes after Ball State students earned seven Student Production Awards earlier this year from the NATAS Central Great Lakes organization. Those honorees included:
- Interview/Discussion: “Ball State Sports Link: Slice of the Game” — AJ Swiatek and Ryan Stojetz
- Magazine Program: “Ball State Sports Link: SL Featured (December 2025)” — Matthew Gillie, Sam Klug, and Dylan Budd
- Sports Story: “Ball State Sports Link: Hungry To Win (Malcolm Slater)” — Will Chiaruttini and Keegan McClure
- Sports Program: “Ball State Sports Link: Prematch Report (BYU)” — Madeline Howell, Daniel Sullivan, AJ Swiatek, Zander Woods, and Brayden Carroll
- Live Sporting Event/Game: “Ball State Sports Link: MBB vs. Louisiana on ESPN+” — Daniel Sullivan, Brian Short, AJ Swiatek, and Sam Klug
- Promotional Video: “Ball State Sports Link: 2025 Baseball Intro” — Jackson DiVincenzo and Caden Vincent
- Talent — News or Sports: “Ball State Sports Link: Dylan Budd” — Dylan Budd
Ball State also continued its strong showing in the Broadcast Education Association’s 2026 School Rankings, which recognize institutions based on the creative achievement of their students. Ball State ranked No. 5 overall in the nation and No. 1 in Sports for the second consecutive year. The University’s BEA recognition also included one of the Festival of Media Arts’ top honors, with Mr. Locker and Amadou Diallo receiving a Best of Festival award in the Sports Competition — Student division for “Ball State Sports Link: My Black Is.”
The BEA rankings are based on results from the Festival of Media Arts, an international juried competition recognizing student and faculty creative work in areas including audio, documentary, film and video, interactive multimedia and emerging technologies, news, scriptwriting, and sports.
In another national recognition, Sports Video Group recently highlighted Mr. Kieffer in its “SVG Students To Watch” series, which features emerging talent in sports-video production. Mr. Kieffer, a rising junior from Greenwood, Ind., has worked as a documentary and feature producer and videographer for Ball State Sports Link. His work includes “Together,” a student-produced docuseries about Ball State Football.
Mr. Kieffer was also recently honored with an SVG College Sports Media Award for Outstanding Cinematic Recap in the Collegiate Student — Championship division.
“These honors show the depth of our students’ skills and the quality of the opportunities they have through Sports Link and the Department of Media,” said Alex Kartman, director of sports production and senior lecturer of media at Ball State. “Our students are producing work for real audiences, under real deadlines, and at a level that continues to stand out regionally and nationally.”
The NATAS Central Great Lakes Chapter includes television markets in Northern Ohio, Central and Northeastern Indiana, and Erie, Pennsylvania. The Regional Emmy® Awards are peer-judged honors recognizing creative achievement in television and media production.
To learn more about the College of Communication, Information, and Media at Ball State, visit bsu.edu/ccim.
About Ball State
Founded in 1918 and located in Muncie, Ball State University is one of Indiana’s premier universities and an economic driver for the state. Ball State’s 20,000 students come from all over Indiana, the nation, and the world. The 790-acre campus is large enough to accommodate first-rate facilities and 19 NCAA Division I sports, but our welcoming campus is small enough to ensure the friendliness, personal attention, and access that are the hallmarks of the University. We Fly!
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