Mahoney & Elder Reel in CSC Creative & Digital Design Recognition

Titans secure a total of four nods

6/13/2025 10:00:00 AM

Full List of Winners (PDF)

ORLANDO, Fla. - The College Sports Communicators Creative & Digital Design Contest announced its winners and full list of results for the 2024-25 edition of the contest Wednesday afternoon following the Special Events Luncheon on the final day of #CSCUnite25 at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort. Representing the Illinois Wesleyan University athletic communications department, assistant director Meredith Mahoney and student photographer Ashtin Elder were recognized.

"The Creative & Digital Design contest continues to showcase the immeasurable talent of the CSC membership in the creative space as we recognize the best in our industry through a wide variety of contest categories as judged by their peers," said committee chair Patrick Murphy of the Colorado School of Mines. "On behalf of myself, vice chair Malloreigh Yingling, contest administrators Andy DeVito, Amanda Phillips and Donnie Smith, along with Executive Board Liaison Matt Panto and CSC Director of Communications and Brand Strategy Beau White, I would like to congratulate all of our winners of the 2024-25 CSC Creative & Digital Design Contest."

The 2024-25 contest set records for the second year in a row with a 33.5% participation increase from the previous year and tallying 2,160 total entries, including 930 entries from the University Division and 1,230 entries from the College Division. A total of nine contest categories saw increased participation year over year, while the Portfolio Contests saw an enormous increase with 173 total entries along with the addition of two more contests. Over the last two editions of the contest, participation has skyrocketed more than 125% overall from 957 entries in 2023-24.

Mahoney, who grabbed national attention for the second straight year, earned honors for her long-form video recap of the IWU men's volleyball program's win over nationally-ranked Dominican this past season. Mahoney's cinematic recap, which can be viewed here, was voted the fourth-best in the category among Division III nominations.

One of many outstanding students working in the athletic communications office, Elder was lauded for his incredible photography as part of the Photo of the Year category. His top awarded photo came from the postgame celebration of the Titan men's volleyball team's win over Dominican. The photo (seen below on the left) garnered the sixth-best ranking across the College Division and was rated the top photo of all Division III entries. Elder also took home the seventh-best photo in Division III with his shot of IWU softball's celebration of Ava Khoury's homerun (seen below on the right).

Men's volleyball celebrating beating No. 19 Dominican, the first win against a ranked opponent in program history.

Men's volleyball celebrating beating No. 19 Dominican, the first win against a ranked opponent in program history.

Finalists for the Designer, Photographer and Videographer of the Year Contests were honored Wednesday at the Special Awards Luncheon with two contest winners in attendance as Lynchburg's Micah Adams and Wayne State's Zack Belsky were named Videographer of the Year and Designer of the Year respectively in the College Division.

More than 250 institutions and conference offices were among the participants this year, with more than 650 total individuals having been named on an entry. A total of 435 places were recognized in the overall contest results while 307 entries garnered "Best Of" honors for each level in the College Division. 930 entries made up the 17 contests in the University Division composed exclusively of Division I institutions. The College Division was headlined by Division II with 571 total entries followed by Division II with 447, the NAIA with 170, Canadian Institutions with 17, two-year colleges with 16 and high schools with nine.

A total of 123 different institutions and league offices were among those recognized along with 229 individuals who either submitted solo entries or collaborations from their communications and creative staffs.

The number of places awarded for each contest was determined by the number of entries in each category. For the College Division, "Best Of" honors were bestowed upon the top finishers from each subdivision also based on the number of entries received.

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