Hancock tells about sports broadcasting career
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Not many people have the opportunity to get up-close and personal with big-time sports personalities.
Katrina Hancock is someone who does. A 1995 Marion High School graduate, the six-foot, three-inch brunette is a sports reporter and anchor at a Toledo, Ohio, television station. She covers all areas of sports including Ohio State University.
Hancock shared her experiences in broadcasting Saturday during the women's wellness workshop in Marion.
Her first assignment at Toledo was to interview the OSU head football coach and do an hour-long pre-game show. She produces and edits her own telecasts.
She spent five days at the Fiesta Bowl when OSU was competing against KSU. "It was an awesome five days," she said.
This summer she covered a Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) golf tournament.
When Hancock graduated from MHS, she pursued a degree in pre-med. She spent two years at Wichita State University, then transferred to Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. While playing on the women's basketball team, she became a spokesman for the team, speaking often with sports reporters.
When one suggested she would make a great reporter, she followed his lead and earned a communications degree after finishing her pre-med studies.
Her first job was in Cheyenne, Wyo., during which time she interviewed members of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team at Denver. She also covered the Stanley Cup Finals and major rodeos.
"I learned that cowboys are really fit and they like talking to tall girls," she said.
In 2001, she earned the Associated Press Best Sportscast Award.
She spent one and one-half years at KSNT in Topeka before going to Ohio. She works from 2 p.m. to midnight Friday through Tuesday.
She said everywhere she has gone, she has had to earn the respect of the men with whom she works. She also has the challenging job of interviewing male athletes in locker rooms after games.
"I just set my mind on the people I need to interview and the questions I need to ask, and I get through it," she said.
Her job doesn't allow for much of a personal life, but her goal is to advance to covering sports in a big city, "where there's always a lot going on."
She said her success is dependent on taking at least 10 minutes of every day for herself in quiet meditation, eating right, exercising, not holding a grudge against anyone, and praying a lot.
