BOONE, N.C. — App State's award-winning football video and strategic communications teams added more honors this month via the CSVA (Collegiate Sports Video Association) and CSC (College Sports Communicators), highlighted by a first-place finish nationally in the "Highlight" category at the 2025 SAVVY Awards in Houston.
Griffin DeJoy helped direct a strong group of students from App State Football's creative video department, which produced a national finalist in the "Highlight" and "Short Social" categories from the 2024 season, with the work from Eli Clark and others for a
video previewing the season opener against ETSU earning a top honor. The
uniform reveal in advance of the James Madison game, with work from Matthew Barnes and Charlie Ventura, served as the "Short Social" submission.
With App State students making major contributions, the Mountaineers' football video crew has claimed at least one first-place SAVVY award 11 times in the last 18 years: 2008, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2025.
On the writing side, assistant athletics director for strategic communications Bret Strelow was recognized with two 2024 stories that placed second in voting for District 3 members of CSC, an area that covers Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
The two stories were submitted in the "Coach/Administrator Profile" and "Event Coverage" categories, with Strelow writing about the
official introduction of football coach Dowell Loggains and the
atmosphere inside a packed Holmes Center for App State Basketball's home win against James Madison.
