Kansas City, Mo. - The Heart of America Athletic Conference announced that Central Methodist University's Rachel Moore has been selected as the 2021-22 Dave Fillmore Heart Sports Information Director of the Year. The award was voted on by the sports information directors in the conference.
The award honors an individual who demonstrates excellence in all aspects of athletics communications including but not limited to, social media, press releases, photography, statistical compilation, website creation, media relations, game-day operations, graphic design, and much more.
"I couldn't be more excited and prouder for Rachel," said Central Methodist Director of Athletics, Jeff Sherman. "She is very passionate and dedicated to her position and works extremely hard. She has been an incredible role model within our administration staff and wears many hats including Sports Information and Assistant Athletic Director. This honor and recognition are a great tribute to her talent, loyalty, and work ethic for our university and athletic program. She is a winner!"
Moore is entering her third year as the Assistant Athletic Director/Director of Athletic Communications at Central Methodist. During her first two years with the Eagles, Moore has helped elevate the department in numerous areas including social media, website streaming, and the Central Athletics Mobile App. This past year, the app reached as high as No. 6 in the country for fan engagment, which includes all divisions of college athletics.
"I am humbled and honored to receive this award," stated Moore. "It is a joy and a privilege to work for Central Methodist University and with the best SIDs in the country. I would like to thank our administration and staff here at Central for their continued support, in addition to our student-athletes for making my job so enjoyable."
Moore becomes just the second woman in conference history to earn Heart SID of the Year honors, joining Shelby Scott, who served as Central's SID from 2018-2020.
In 2021-22, Moore promoted seven Heart of America Conference Champions including Central Football's first-ever national playoff appearance this past November.
Prior to joining the Eagles, she spent 2019-20 at NCAA Division I Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas, as an Assistant Sports Information Director. While with the Islanders, she served as the primary media contact for the women's soccer, women's golf, women's basketball, softball, and beach volleyball programs.
She began her career as Baker University's first-ever Sports Information Graduate Assistant in the 2017-18 academic year.
During her two years as the SID GA with the Wildcats, Moore served as the on-site media representative for wrestling, dance, softball, and men's soccer at their respective NAIA National Championships. She covered the softball team's first-ever national tournament appearance in Bowling Green, Ky., as well as the wrestling program's fourth individual national champion and numerous NAIA All-Americans.
Moore obtained her undergraduate degree in Sports Administration from Baker in 2017 and her M.S. in Sports Management in 2019.
Moore is now eligible for the 2021-22 NAIA National SID of the Year award. The national winner will be announced publicly during the NAIA National Awards Day on September 15. She will be recognized by the conference at the Heart Summit on August 1.
ABOUT THE DAVE FILLMORE SPORTS INFORMATION DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD
In order to honor its current sports information professionals, the conference introduced the Dave Fillmore Award after the 2013-14 academic year. The award is named after Fillmore, who served as the first SID at Evangel University in 1977 and as the league's sports information director from 1988-2003. Fillmore passed away on December 21, 2008, but not before being inducted into the Evangel Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007. He also won the Clarence "Ike" Pearson Award in 1999, the highest honor bestowed upon sports information directors in the NAIA.
PREVIOUS WINNERS:
2014 - John Schild (Culver-Stockton)
2015 - Chad Jenkins (MidAmerica Nazarene)
2016 - Josh Pound (Benedictine)
2017 - Tyler Price (Baker)
2018 - Phillip Dowden (Evangel)
2019 - Wade Steinlage (William Penn)
2020 - Shelby Scott (Central Methodist)
2021 - Andy Pulverenti (Missouri Valley)
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