Antognioni '12 named Saint Michael's Athletic Communications Intern for 2012-13

COLCHESTER, Vt. - Harrison Antognioni '12 (Bennington, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) was selected as the Saint Michael's College Athletic Communications intern for the 2012-13 school year, it was announced on Wednesday. A four-year member of the Athletic Communications staff during his undergraduate career, Antognioni will be the ninth intern to serve in the role since it was established in the summer of 2005.

"I am grateful and excited to have the opportunity to continue to work in athletic communications at Saint Michael's College," said Antognioni. "My experiences as a student employee exceeded all of my expectations, and I'm excited to take on a higher level of responsibility and continue to work closely with Saint Michael's Athletics. I look forward to working with the entire athletics staff and am truly appreciative of everyone at Saint Michael's for giving me a great opportunity to further my interests and skills in athletic communications."

Antognioni will assist with all publicity and media relations facets for the College's 21 NCAA Division II intercollegiate varsity sports programs. He will work alongside the director of athletic communications in many media relations initiatives, and also aid in the College's social media endeavors. Antognioni is expected to begin his duties in late August, and will complete his nine-month internship in May 2013.

Prior to graduating in May with a degree in media studies, Antognioni worked closely with a pair of directors of athletic communications during his undergraduate career. In addition to composing press releases lauding student-athletes' outstanding achievements, he played a major role in the launching of the department's re-designed website, SMCAthletics.com, reorganizing much of the back-end content, manipulating photos, and updating student-athlete biographies. Antognioni also served as an on-site statistician at basketball, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer and volleyball contests, aiding the maintenance of the teams' official NCAA statistics.

On May 2, Antognioni was honored with the George "Doc" Jacobs Award at the department's 65th annual Block "M" Awards Dinner, earning an accolade reserved for individuals who make an outstanding contribution to the athletic department regardless of athletic ability. He is among just a handful of non-student-athletes to earn the laurel since its establishment in 1969.

During the summer between his junior and senior years at Saint Michael's, Antognioni served as the media relations intern for the Green Mountain Rock Crushers, a first-year professional ice hockey team in the Federal Hockey League. He gained experience with the media, maintaining the organization's website, attending marketing meetings, and coordinating players during the team's free agent tryout camp.

Antognioni interned in the sports department at the Burlington Free Press, Vermont's largest daily newspaper, during his final semester of college after serving as the news editor in the spring semester of 2011 for The Defender, the College's award-winning weekly student newspaper. During his tenure, The Defender was named one of the top five college newspapers in New England by the New England Society of Newspaper Editors. He was also a contributor to the sports department at the daily Bennington Banner for nearly three years, beginning during his senior year of high school. Antognioni earned the 2008 Harmon Bove Memorial Award, presented by the Vermont Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association (VSSA) for contributions to his local newspaper.