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Wayne Nelson, Rob White and Mick Garry Named Recipients of Kolpack Award

Wayne Nelson, Rob White and Mick Garry have been named the recipients of the 2007 NCC Media Award. The award was established in 1996 to honor a member of the sports media for their contributions to the coverage of the North Central Conference. The trio are the first newspaper reporters to be honored since 2000. The awards be presented as part of the NCC Honors Dinner on Monday, May 21 at the Ramkota Hotel in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Wayne Nelson has been a sportswriter since 1976, where he started at the Valley City Times-Record. Nelson has covered North Dakota high school and college sports extensively. For years, he covered the old North Dakota College Athletic Conference, now DAC, while at the Jamestown Sun. During those years (1980-95), Wayne also covered Jamestown High School and Class B sports.

Nelson has been UND sports beat writer for the last 12 years and has covered Sioux football and basketball in his time at the Grand Forks Herald. Also at the Herald, Wayne has covered auto racing. Wayne has been awarded the state Sportswriter of the Year four times and also has won a number of North Dakota Newspaper Association sportswriting awards during his years in Jamestown and Grand Forks. He's also served as president of the North Dakota Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Wayne was on the Herald staff that won the Pulitzer Prize for community journalism in 1997, for their flood coverage.

Rob White has been one of the most active reporters of any outlet, covering the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the North Central Conference. He was the UNO beat writer for the Omaha World-Herald in 1995-96 and then returned to that position in 1999. Since then, he has been the primary reporter for men's and women's Division II sports for the paper. He's traveled to conference, regional and national tournaments and also has written numerous stories on conference-wide issues.

"Rob is one of the most-fair reporters I have ever worked with," said UNO sports information director Gary Anderson. "He's been a tireless worker as well, since he covers Omaha's Triple A baseball team during the summer months as well as keeping tabs on UNO sports and athletes."

Mick Garry has served at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader since 1990. The easy-going, high-personable Garry has a solid reputation for his writing ability and coverage of NCC athletics. Mick, a graduate of the University of St. Thomas, is originally from Austin, Minnesota.

Garry is an avid golfer and also enjoys baseball. He has covered the University of South Dakota since 1990 and also now covers the Sioux Falls Canaries and Sioux Falls Skyforce along with special projects. Aside from covering USD, Mick Garry has closely followed and covered the North Central Conference, in part of by a weekly effort by the Argus Leader to cover all the local colleges in the area with a special page. Mick has handled numerous special projects on college and high school athletics. His work has earned him Associated Press awards but more importantly.

Previous Honorees

1996 - Jon Schroeder, WJON, St. Cloud

1997 - Casey Lloyd, Pro Radio, Mankato

1998 - Mike Augustine, St. Paul Pioneer Press

1999 - Hod Nielson, Yankton Press & Dakotan

2000 - Sam Mustari, Greeley Tribune

2001 - Jim Kelter, Omaha Radio

2002 - Jim Bollman, Grand Forks Radio

2003 - Mike Rice, Northern Colorado Radio

2004 - Steve Imming, South Dakota St. Radio

Scott Miller, North Dakota St. Radio

2005 - Jeff Fylling, Augustana Radio

2006 - Mark Ovenden, KDLT-TV, Sioux Falls

2007 - Wayne Nelson, Grand Forks Herald

Rob White, Omaha World-Herald

Mick Garry, Argus Leader