JACKSON, Mich. – The Crossroads League announced on Wednesday that Mitch Huppert of Marian University had been named its 2024-2025 Sports Information Director of the Year. The award is the third for Huppert in his five years as a lead athletics communicator, and the fifth for the Marian Sports Information Department since the start of the award in 2013-2014.

"It is a true honor to be named as the Crossroads League Sports Information Director of the Year for a third time, and I am very proud to represent the league," said Huppert. "We have one of the most competitive conferences on the field in the Crossroads League, and off the field, we have a competitive and dedicated group of SID's in the NAIA that have pushed me to bring my best each day. The list of thank yous to earn this honor begins with my peers in the league for nominating me for this honor. I am extremely thankful for the tremendous support of our administrative team at Marian led by Steve Downing, Mark Henninger, and Linny Rousseau, and for the hard work and dedication from Assistant SID Haylea Sorrell and former athletics marketing manager Will Hunker. I'd also like to thank my tremendous team of student-workers and scorer's table crew who help make our coverage top-notch.

We have a great group of coaches and student-athletes at Marian, and the ability to share their stories and successes is an honor I am glad to carry out."

Huppert also led his Marian Sports Information Department to the same honor during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 years, joining Grace's Josh Neuhart as a three-time recipient of the honor.

During the 2024-25 year, Huppert and his department published over 700 news articles and game recaps, while releasing over 125 videos on Marian's various social media platforms. Huppert led Marian's coverage for their 2025 NAIA National Champion Men's Indoor Track and Field and Men's Bowling teams, and traveled with three of Marian's teams at their 2024-25 NAIA Championship final sites.

Huppert was the media coordinator for three NAIA Opening Round events hosted by the Knights in the 2024-25 year and additionally served as part of the tournament committee for each event. Throughout the year, Huppert and his team provided on-site coverage for Marian's teams at nine different NAIA tournament rounds, while traveling to cover or hosting 15 different teams during their conference tournaments.

Huppert continued to lead his charge in live streaming at Marian, increasing the university's partnership with the ISC Sports Network to broadcast over 50 events during the season. The staff also increased their content creation, further promoting the Knights on social media and their various video boards at Ascension St. Vincent Field and in the PE center. The nine-year communications veteran was additionally involved in the College Sports Communicators group in 2024-25, successfully nominating 55 Academic All-District recipients, while 12 Knights went on to be named CSC Academic All-Americans.

"Mitch and his staff do a tremendous job in serving Marian University," said Marian Director of Athletics Steve Downing. "Mitch has my full support in his role as a communicator and as an administrator, and all of our coaches and staff can rely on him and his abilities to promote our teams. This award is incredibly deserved."  

The Crossroads League Sports Information Director-of-the-Year award was voted on by Sports Information Directors from the Crossroads League.

Crossroads League Sports Information Director/Department of-the-Year Recipients
2024-2025 – Mitch Huppert, Marian
2023-2024 – Josh Neuhart, Grace
2022-2023 – Alex Stewart, Mount Vernon Nazarene
2021-2022 – Mitch Huppert, Marian
2020-2021 – Mitch Huppert, Marian
2019-2020 – Josh Neuhart, Grace
2018-2019 – Chris Bauman, Spring Arbor
2017-2018 – Zach Wadley, Marian
2016-2017 – Seth Mikel, Taylor
2015-2016 – Josh Neuhart, Grace
2014-2015 – Seth Mikel, Taylor
2013-2014 – Geoff Sherman, Marian

MUKnights.com: Your online source for Marian Athletics, tickets, multimedia, Knight merchandise, photos and more.