The Association for Women in Sports Media is proud to introduce its newest class of AWSM Scholars.
Since 1990, AWSM has placed female college students in paid summer internships in the sports media industry at top companies from around the country.
The eight young women who were chosen as 2020 AWSM Scholars had to demonstrate their talent and drive throughout our competitive application process.
In addition to the paid internship, winners will also receive a $1,000 scholarship.
This scholarship is possible thanks to our generous benefactors:
Our internship hosts help make this program run. A special thanks to CNN Sports, ESPN, MLB.com, Sporting News, USA Softball and USA Today, who return as hosts for the 2020 class, and to the Orlando Sentinel, which AWSM welcomes as a first-time employer.
Get to know the 2020 AWSM Scholars:
Mari Faiello is a senior studying journalism at Florida. A Lithia, Fla., native, Faiello has worked at the student-run Florida Alligator for more than two years, most recently as assistant sports editor. She’s a former intern for the Gainesville Sun and Tampa Bay Times and studied abroad in Europe as a sophomore. Faiello was recently honored by the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation. She will spend her summer interning at the Orlando Sentinel as the Jim Brennan Scholarship recipient.
Aria Gerson is in her junior year at Michigan, where she studies political science with minors in history and writing. She is a senior sports editor and covers football for the student-run Michigan Daily, and freelanced for regional and national outlets. Gerson, who is from Grand Rapids, Mich., previously interned at the Cape Cod Times. She will join the staff of USA Today, based in McLean, Va., for the summer as the Mary Garber/APSE Scholarship recipient.
Anna Glenn Grove is studying journalism at Georgia. The Nashville native covers football for the student-run Red & Black newspaper and works with the student television station and government association. She has interned with the Tennessee Titans radio network and spent a semester in Washington, D.C., working for ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption. Grove, a senior and a member of Georgia’s AWSM chapter, is the Leah Siegel Memorial Scholarship winner and will intern with ESPN in Bristol, Conn.
Kennedi Landry is a senior at LSU, where she’s studying mass communications. She’s originally from New Orleans and previously worked as sports editor and football beat writer at the Reveille, the LSU student newspaper. She writes for the Baton Rouge Advocate and has interned at ESPN and SB Nation. Landry has been selected for the Sports Journalism Institute, and will complete its boot camp before heading to New York to intern at MLB.com. Landry will receive the Founders Scholarship.
Paige Leckie is a multiplatform journalism major at Maryland and a Rockville, Md., native. She covers Maryland baseball as managing editor of the Maryland Baseball Network and works part-time for NBC Sports Washington. She is the AWSM chapter president and recently received Maryland’s Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism’s All-Star Student award. Leckie, a senior, will intern with MLB.com in New York as AWSM’s Betty Jolly Scholarship winner.
Ally Lutter is a senior broadcast journalism major at Penn State and the president of the campus’ AWSM chapter. She has served as executive producer of the Centre County Report, her work for which has been nominated for national awards. The Huntingdon Valley, Pa., native has also worked for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Penn State athletics department. Lutter, the recipient of the Betty Brennan Scholarship, will spend her summer in Atlanta interning with CNN Sports.
Chelsea Roemer is studying strategic communications at Missouri. She is originally from Dallas and serves as the vice president of Missouri’s AWSM chapter and works as an intern for Mizzou Athletics. Roemer, a senior, has previously interned for minor-league baseball teams in Holyoke, Mass., and Madison, Wisc. She will spend summer 2020 working for USA Softball in Oklahoma City, and is the recipient of the Joyce-Jenks Family Scholarship.
Riley Trujillo is studying sports journalism at Arizona State. The sophomore is a native of Grand Junction, Colo., and serves as the vice president of ASU’s AWSM chapter. She is a digital media intern with Sun Devil Athletics and has worked with MLB Advanced Media and Pac-12 Plus. She’s also on the executive board of the Walter Cronkite Sports Network. Trujillo will spend her summer in Charlotte with the Sporting News as the Celeste Williams Memorial Scholarship recipient.
If you’d like to help support the AWSM Scholars program, please reach out to Katie McInerney or Beth Maiman for more information: awsminternship@gmail.com, k.n.mcinerney@gmail.com or bethmaiman@gmail.com.
