North Central's WONC named top college radio station in nation

North Central College's student-run radio station, WONC 89.1-FM, has been named the best of the best.

For the first time in its history, WONC was awarded the Abraham and Brost Award for Best Overall Radio Station in the nation March 7 at the 75th annual Intercollegiate Broadcasting System International Conference in New York City.

"Winning this award proved what we as a school and staff already knew: We are the best in the nation," said station manager Russell Tanzillo, a senior from Naperville. "I knew for a long time WONC had what it took to win this award and we only needed to tweak a few things to get there."

To qualify for the award, WONC first won the Best College Radio Station for schools with fewer than 10,000 students enrolled. Three other stations also qualified for the best of the best by winning their categories: San Diego State University for Best Internet Radio Station, Central Washington University for Best College Radio Station for schools with enrollment greater than 10,000, and Palomar College in San Marcos, California, for Best Community College Radio Station.

"In announcing the first award, all the announcer was able to say was 'All the way from Nape …' and the rest was lost in our cheering and celebration," said assistant station manager Samuel Reiman, a junior from Chicago. "Then when the biggest award was announced, we went ballistic."

Tanzillo and Reiman produced the station's submission, an hourlong montage of about 80 samples of audio from the past year. Station promos, station IDs, sportscasts, newscasts and air breaks, as well as band interviews, artist liners and other quality programs showed how the station had evolved over the year.

"It revealed how much effort we put into getting our station recognized by artists, record labels and the music industry overall and our involvement in the local music scene," Reiman said.

"What made our submission special was that we organized it in a way that made it feel as close to a natural broadcast as possible," Tanzillo said. "We had some talking parts, then promos, then some sports parts, a PSA, more talking parts and other aspects of broadcasting."

John Madormo, assistant professor of broadcast communication, also won a best in the nation award: the Jeff Tellis Outstanding Advisor Award for outstanding leadership, dedication and service. Previously nominated for the award, this was his first win at IBS. In 1994, he was honored by College Media Advisors with a similar award, the Distinguished Four-Year Broadcast Advisor Award.

"John is the mastermind behind the operations," Tanzillo said. "John is exactly what his award says: He is the best adviser in the nation and has been for a very long time. As my adviser and teacher, we have built a very good relationship over my four years and that's exactly what I wanted coming to a smaller school. I wanted to build relationships that will be useful and helpful in life."

Two more first-place awards also were claimed at the conference. Sophomore Cora Georgiou won Best Newscast, and Tanzillo and junior Max Kachinske won Best Station Promo. All total, the station brought home 14 awards; the remaining were all finalist awards.

Just getting to the New York City conference was a challenge for the group from North Central. A snowstorm blew through the East Coast on Thursday, March 5, the day everyone planned to fly to LaGuardia International Airport. Also that day, a Delta flight skidded off LaGuardia's runway, canceling flights and shutting down the airport until Friday morning. Traveling separately, Madormo was able to find a flight Friday night, but the six student travelers weren't so lucky. They ended up securing six seats on Amtrak for a 22-hour train ride, arriving in New York Friday evening.

"I'm so glad our students were there," Madormo said. "I have never seen our kids as emotionally excited before, and the big wins were all the sweeter because of the journey to get there."

The students chosen to attend the conference were: junior Hannah Jurik of Plainfield; sophomore Cora Georgiou of Orland Park; senior Wesley Rasmussen-Wilson of Simi Valley, California; junior Reiman of Chicago; senior Tanzillo of Naperville; and junior Kachinske of Aurora.

In 1974, WONC received a similar national award, the Billboard Magazine Radio Station of the Year Award.

WONC is among the most-honored collegiate radio stations in America and has won national and state awards in commercial and collegiate competitions. With a 30-mile listening radius and potential listening audience of 4 million people, WONC's pure rock music format broadcasts a mix of news, sports, traffic, music and public affairs programming 24 hours a day, year-round. The radio station can be heard live at wonc.org.