By Diane Gasper-O’Brien
University Relations and Marketing
Fort Hays State University students Gabe Warrick and Matt Hastings have been helping record Tiger athletic events for several years.
Last weekend’s NCAA Division II Women’s Central Region Basketball Championships might have topped them all.
Warrick is a senior from Larned, majoring in informatics with an emphasis in media studies. He is a member of the sports production crew for Tiger Media Network, FHSU’s convergent media hub.
Hastings, a native of Topeka, is working on a master’s degree in sport management and works as a graduate assistant in the FHSU Sports Information Office.
They are just two of hundreds of Fort Hays State students who helped make the regional tournament a success.
Warrick’s duties included camera operation, replay, directing, technical directing and graphics work, while Hastings put to good use his expertise in recording statistics, running the video board and generally making sure everything was running smoothly.
Some students returned to campus early from spring break week to work in several areas: concession stands, taking tickets, as parking lot attendants and ushers and with the maintenance crew. Also participating in the event were members of the Tiger pep band; the university’s dance team, the Tiger Debs; and the FHSU cheer squad.
“We rely heavily on student support for all of our operations. We simply wouldn’t have the manpower without them,” said FHSU Athletic Director Curtis Hammeke. “Not only is this necessary for our ability to put on these events, it also serves as great experience for these students moving into their future.”
And then, of course there were the students who returned from spring break in time to help cheer on the Tigers in Monday’s regional championship game. They added to the raucous crowd of 5,000-plus fans as FHSU battled Southwestern Oklahoma State University, which came out on top, 88-77.
“Hosting an event like the NCAA Central Regional once again brings to light the tremendous community support we have here in Hays,” Hammeke said. “Visiting institutions and representatives from the NCAA are in awe of our crowd sizes and the support we have for facilitating such events.”
Warrick and Hastings are two students who felt privileged to help facilitate the regional tournament. They both are transfer students who chose Fort Hays State to continue their education following graduation from community colleges.
“This was a bigger production than what I was used to,” said Warrick, who came to FHSU in 2017 after two years at Hutchinson Community College. “I got a good start at Hutch, but when you have a building like Hammond Hall here at FHSU, where you have two studios and three different sets, it was really cool to come and see. It was a step up, and I was excited.”
Warrick was particularly intrigued with FHSU’s TriCaster, a product that merges live video, graphics, special effects, etc., into one polished production for viewers.
“The technology we have here is unrivaled,” he said. “Our production team and live-streaming I’d put up against any in the country.”
Warrick said he would even put FHSU up against Division I schools, where underclassmen have to wait their turn for hands-on experience.
“That’s the great thing about Fort Hays State,” he said. “You can come in as a freshman and start working with a camera right away. And it doesn’t matter what your major is. We have some in political science, geoscience, music, among others. If they want to come and help, we will teach them. We are here to help them learn.”
Warrick was one of 14 TMN students who helped with the three-day tourney, putting in approximately 25 hours while broadcasting seven games. All that came less than a week after many of the same students worked a six-day shift producing the MIAA tournament at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
The students involved in the sports production elements of TMN are under the guidance of Russell Heitmann, news and sports director for the organization.
“The work these kids do is amazing,” Heitmann said. “Our crew comes from multiple academic backgrounds, majors and interests. However, they have been able to come together and put on numerous quality productions throughout the year. I am incredibly proud of the growth from the first home football broadcast to putting on an NCAA regional broadcast event.”
Hastings echoed Warrick’s thoughts on the real-life opportunities available for FHSU students early on in their college careers.
“As a DII SID worker, I’ve been more exposed to all the sports,” said Hastings, who began working with SID Ryan Prickett during his junior year as an undergraduate student. “In DII, I’m the guy who does a little bit of everything.”
A big share of Hastings’ duties are performed behind-the-scenes. He is responsible for accumulating statistics and writing stories for men’s soccer, men’s cross country, wrestling and baseball.
But when it comes to Game Day in GMC, Prickett calls on several student workers to help out.
For the Central Region championships, Hastings could be seen working all around the coliseum, from running the video board to making sure the teams had everything they need, and everything in between.
“I want to make sure everything goes right,” he said, “so I become vested in it.”
Although FHSU lost the regional title game, the Tiger women will no doubt remember the tournament experience for a long time. So, too, will fellow FHSU students who had the opportunity to be a part of the event.
“Events like this are a great opportunity for kids to see what it takes to put on a high-level tournament weekend,” said Brian Flax, an employee in the Athletics Department who is in charge of concessions. “It takes a lot of pieces falling into place, and the students are a big part of that. Besides getting to see their fellow athletes do well, they get the chance to be involved, too.”
After five years of working as a student under Prickett as an undergrad and graduate student, Hastings is set to graduate in May and hopes to continuing working in sports information at the DII level. He said he is glad he attended FHSU because it gave him a completely different outlook of working at a DII school than what he had growing up.
“Being from the Topeka area, I’m used to the big city, and a lot of people don’t know much about Washburn,” he said of Washburn University, a DII school and a fellow MIAA member with FHSU.
“In Hays, everybody is fully vested in this university. Farmers from around the whole area and people around town, everyone knows Fort Hays State. That’s one thing I really love about Hays. The community is so involved in the university and its athletic teams.”
