Students at WFUV earned 14 Awards for Excellence in Broadcasting this year, five for news coverage and nine for sports. The awards recognize work ranging from an interview with a WNBA legend, live reporting from the Super Bowl, election coverage, and a musical chairs competition in Bryant Park.
Six of WFUV’s awards came in the New York State Broadcasting Association’s large-market radio category, where the station competed against professional broadcasters and other major New York radio outlets. The remaining came in the association’s college divisions, where WFUV students competed against other student broadcasters.
According to Bobby Ciafardini, the station’s sports director, the record-breaking number of awards signals the dedication students are bringing to WFUV.
“The students are receiving the recognition they deserve for the hard work they put in,” Ciafardini said.
Telling Stories Through Sound
Among the year’s winners is senior Lainey Nguyen, who earned two awards in the college radio category: Outstanding Feature for “Musical Chairs Creates Community” and Outstanding Interview for “Boat Baby: An American Journey,” in which NBC broadcaster Vicky Nguyen (no relation) discussed her new memoir, which details her family’s journey from Vietnam to the U.S.
For the “Musical Chairs” story, Lainey visited Bryant Park for an annual competition where hundreds of participants play a massive game of musical chairs. She interviewed participants about their strategies and gathered the ambient sounds of the event, then produced and engineered the piece herself.
“It was cool to take all the sound and the interviews and then practice my audio engineering to put it all together into a narrative piece,” Lainey said.
Lainey’s second award-winning piece grew out of a conversation she had with Vicky Nguyen after a book signing for “Boat Baby,” which eventually led to the WFUV interview, as well as an internship for Lainey with NBC News Daily.
The interview was “an amazing opportunity,” said Lainey, who also has Vietnamese heritage. “I look up to Vicky so much.”
A Look at the WNBA’s Future
On the sports side, the WFUV team covered some of the year’s biggest sporting events, including Super Bowl LX, from which they produced several live segments from “Radio Row.” For one of those segments, 2026 graduates Chris Carrino Jr. and Brendan Shorey took home a broadcasting award for their interview with ESPN broadcaster Noah Eagle.
Senior Kurt Sippel earned four awards in collaboration with other students, including one for Outstanding Interview for “Finding Liberty in Today’s WNBA with Legend Rebecca Lobo,” produced with senior Alex Diaz and Ciafardini.
Sippel said the interview stood out to him because Lobo offered an insider’s perspective on a pivotal moment for the WNBA as its popularity soars. The conversation centered on the league’s collective bargaining agreement and its future, with Lobo drawing on her experience as one of the league’s inaugural stars and longtime player for the New York Liberty.
“It felt like you were listening to a turning point from an expert who has seen the league grow,” Sippel said.
A Unique Opportunity for Student Broadcasters
Ciafardini said the variety of the WFUV team’s winning work is something he’s proud of. The station earned recognition for promotional work, a morning show, sports coverage, interviews, live on-scene reporting, television, local coverage, and podcasts.
For students, he said, that range of work provides an opportunity to build a diverse media skillset before graduation. Sippel, who has covered everything from baseball and horse racing to Fordham basketball for WFUV, both on-air and behind the sound board, agreed.
“We’ve gotten so many different opportunities that most people can’t even dream of having in their professional careers,” Sippel said. “And we get them while we’re still in school.”
WFUV’s 2026 NYSBA Award Winners
Large-Market Radio:
Outstanding Promotional Announcement/Series: “The March Towards March” — Joe Henry
Outstanding Morning Show: “One on One: Will Jets Take off in 2025?” — Grace McCarron, Kurt Sippel, Joe Henry, and Bobby Ciafardini
Outstanding Sports Coverage: “Noah Eagle on Super Bowl LX & Working in Sports Media” — Chris Carrino, and Brendan Shorey
Outstanding Interview: “Finding Liberty in Today’s WNBA with Legend Rebecca Lobo” — Kurt Sippel, Alex Diaz, and Bobby Ciafardini
Outstanding Live On-Scene Reporting: “Live from the Indy 500” — Bobby Ciafardini, Tucker Austin, Kurt Sippel, and Trey Rodriguez
Outstanding Live Local Coverage: “2025 New York Mets Funeral” — Grace McCarron, Joe Henry, Brendan Shorey, and Kurt Sippel
College Radio
Outstanding Newscast: “Jay Doherty PM Newscast 1/7/26” — Jay Doherty
Outstanding Feature: “Musical Chairs Creates Community” — Lainey Nguyen
Outstanding Interview: “Boat Baby: An American Journey” — Lainey Nguyen
Outstanding Editorial/Commentary: “The Biggest Rivalry in Sports Continues ‘NY Yankees vs Boston Red Sox’” — Joe Henry, Chris Carrino, Tucker Austin, and Owen Kelty
Outstanding Election Coverage: “Mamdani Wins NYC Mayoral Election” — Sienna Reinders, Andrew McDonald, Alexandra Pfau
College Television
Outstanding Series or Documentary: “Recovering from the L.A. Wildfires: Rising from the Ashes” — Jay Doherty
Outstanding Live On-Scene Reporting: “Interview with NFL.com’s Judy Battista” — Joe Henry and Chris Carrino
Outstanding Podcast: “Cross the Line: Sabalenka/Alcaraz are US Open Champions” — Gabby Price, Mary Hawthorn and Grace McCarron
