Wittenberg University football standout Desi Kirkman, class of 2014 from Lima, Ohio, did more than just fire up the home fans with a touchdown reception during the Oct. 13 game against the University of Chicago. Within hours, he had made a name for himself nationally.
But much like the play itself that resulted in a touchdown for the Tigers, who defeated Chicago 41-17, Kirkman couldn't have done it on his own. Just as tremendous blocking by his teammates cleared the path for Kirkman, who avoided the last defender by flipping over him into the end zone, he had classmates in the pressbox high atop Edwards-Maurer Field working to capture the footage.
The students working in the pressbox were members of Wittenberg's innovative Integrated Media Corps (IMC), an internship program that offers students the chance to hone a variety of skills in communications, public relations and multimedia. They are the men and women behind the camera at many home sporting events and often the voices calling the action. They are also responsible for producing highlight videos and promoting the university through various social media outlets, including Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.
By halftime, IMC students Graham Wolff, class of 2013 from Lake Bluff, Ill., Savannah Guyer, class of 2013 from Wyndmoor, Pa., and Caity Valley, class of 2013 from Springfield, Ohio, had uploaded the video clip of Kirkman's dazzling scoring play to a Wittenberg Athletics YouTube channel. The IMC continued its work with the start of a social media campaign that included posts to Twitter by Megan Conkle, class of 2014 from Uniontown, Ohio.
Encouraged by posts by @WittAthletics, the official Twitter account of Wittenberg’s Department of Athletics, buzz about the play spread quickly on the Internet. Tiger fans repeatedly included the hashtag #SCTop10, bringing the clip to the attention of ESPN’s producers and helping to lobby for its inclusion in the nightly rundown of highlights from around the nation.
The IMC students on hand that day worked under the supervision of Sports Information Directors Ryan Maurer and John Strawn, who incorporated video shot by Springfield News-Sun writer David Jablonski from a second angle into a second video clip. The result of their hard work was groundbreaking for Wittenberg athletics, as the Tigers made their first-ever appearance on ESPN's popular SportsCenter program later that evening and through much of the next day.
Kirkman's flip into the end zone for a touchdown ranked No. 2 on the nightly "Top 10 Plays" feature. Then on Monday, the flip even made it onto another popular ESPN show SportsNation as one of the highlighted video clips, and on Tuesday, D3Football.com selected the clip as its "Play of the Week."
The appearances on SportsCenter, SportsNation and D3Football.com, combined with the social media campaign, have made the Kirkman flip a very popular choice on YouTube. Through Oct. 16, the video's two versions had been viewed more than 8,000 times.
