From the IHSAA
Michael Hole and his late broadcasting partner, Chuck Akers, of WFLQ Radio in French Lick have been named as this year’s winners of the Indiana High School Athletic Association Distinguished Media Service Award for District III.
Both will be honored Nov. 30 in a special ceremony prior to the Springs Valley-Orleans boys basketball game at Orleans. IHSAA Commissioner Blake Ress will be on hand to make the presentation.
Hole, also known by his on-air name, “Mike Hamilton,” has been with WFLQ since 1986, having called Springs Valley football games since that same fall and Blackhawk basketball games since the 1989-90 season. He also covers Orleans and Paoli high schools in various sports, including volleyball, baseball and softball. Besides his on-air duties, he works as an account executive for the station and hosts a weekly sports talk show, “Sportschat,” during the fall and winter months.
Prior to joining WFLQ, Hole worked for WLSO in Spencer and WUME in Paoli. He got his start during his high school days at Carmel High School’s WHJE, where he served as sports director during his junior and senior years and was the first student to call the play-by-play action for basketball. While a college student at Indiana University, he interned at WBWB radio in Bloomington and also volunteered at WIUS, the campus radio station.
He graduated from IU in 1982 with a degree in telecommunications and a minor in business.
A licensed IHSAA official in six different sports, Hole has worked sectional and/or regional tournaments in girls basketball, volleyball, baseball, and softball. He considers broadcasting the 1989 Class A state football championship between Springs Valley and Bremen and the 1990 boys basketball state finals, when Bedford North Lawrence won the crown, as his favorites.
He and his wife of 25 years, Kristina, have two sons, Alex, 22, and Adam, 18. Kristina teaches French at Orleans High School. The family has called Orleans home since 1985.
Akers had been a broadcaster for WFLQ for 24 years, broadcasting primarily football and basketball games. Many marveled at his encyclopedic knowledge of Springs Valley High School sports. He retired from the school corporation in 1999 after a long career as a teacher as well as coach for football, boys and girls basketball, and golf.
More recently, he had been enjoying retirement as a starter at the Donald Ross Golf Course in French Lick. He had also been a licensed IHSAA official for both high school basketball and baseball.
Akers had graduated from Union College in Barbourville, Ky., in 1964 and later received a master’s degree from Indiana University.
Akers tragically lost his life in a traffic accident Oct. 18. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Leslie, and their two daughters, Libby Pancake (Tony) of Zionsville and Kelli Matthews (Patrick) of Allen, Texas, and seven grandchildren. They were residents of French Lick.
This is the 23rd year the IHSAA has recognized outstanding members of the Indiana news media from each of the three IHSAA legislative districts for excellence in the coverage of high school sports. District III covers 42 counties across Southern Indiana. Hole and Akers are the first honorees of the 2007-08 school year.
On behalf of its 407 member schools, the Indiana High School Athletic Association is pleased to salute Mike Hole and the late Chuck Akers for their dedicated service to high school athletics in the state of Indiana.
Previous award recipients from southwestern Indiana include:
Don Bernhardt, Evansville Courier, 1984-85
Bob Simmers, WITZ, Jasper, 1986-87
Larry Goffinet, Tell City News, 1991-92
Dave Hunter, WAOV, Vincennes, 1992-93
Norman Hall, WBNL, Boonville, 1993-94
Dave Dedrick, WUME/WSEZ, Paoli, 1995-96
Bob Bridge, Bedford Times-Mail, 1996-97
Mike Blake, WFIE-TV, Evansville, 1997-98
Larry Schweizer, WBNL, Boonville, 1998-99
Pete Swanson, Princeton Clarion, 1999-00
Tom Douglas, Spencer Evening World, 1999-00
Dan Egierski, WGBF Radio, Evansville, 2001-02
Mark Downey, Bloomfield Evening World, 2002-03
Brian Bohne, Ferdinand News/Spencer County Leader, 2003-04
Lance Wilkerson, News 25, WEHT-TV, Evansville, 2005-06
Tom Collins, Evansville Courier & Press, 2006-07
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