Indiana High School Athletic Association

9150 North Meridian Street, Box 40650, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240-0650

Phone: 317-846-6601 Fax: 317-575-4244 Website: www.ihsaa.org

Blake Ress, Commissioner

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MEDIA ADVISORY March 10, 2003

Contact: Jerry Baker, Sports Information Director

E-Mail: jbaker@ihsaa.org

MARK DOWNEY SELECTED DISTRICT III MEDIA SERVICE AWARD WINNER

Mark Downey, General Manager and Sports Editor of The Evening World in Bloomfield has been selected as the 2002-03 recipient of the District III IHSAA Distinguished Media Service Award.

A graduate of Bloomfield High School and Indiana State University, Mark began his employment with the newspaper in 1986 and took over the duties of heading up the sports department in 1988. This past August, he was promoted to the General Manager’s position, assuming those responsibilities in addition to his sports commitments, all the while writing a daily column, an obligation he has met each publication since August of 1988.

Among his career highlights, he lists covering four individual state track champions, a pair of volleyball teams (Bloomfield) and a baseball squad (Shakamak) vying for a state title, a state champion girls basketball team (Bloomfield, 1998), and the opportunity to report on the appearances of two boys teams (Bloomfield, Union (Dugger)) and one other girls team (White River Valley) as they appeared in the IHSAA Girls Basketball State Finals.

Mark is a familiar face at high school sporting events throughout Greene and the surrounding counties as he covers all eight schools in the Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference, writing stories on the events and the athletes who compete.

Mark and his wife, Kim, are the proud parents of a daughter, Alexandra, and he has two step-sons, Nathan and Tyler.

Mark will be honored on Saturday, March 15, 2003 in a special ceremony during the boys’ basketball regional tournament at White River Valley High School.

On behalf of all 392 member schools of the Indiana High School Athletic Association, we salute Mark Downey and thank him for his dedicated service to high school athletics in our state by presenting him with the 2002-2003 Distinguished Media Service Award for District III.