WZND Sees Success at 2026 IBA Awards

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.– WZND saw more success at this year’s Illinois Broadcasters Association Convention, earning nine first-place Silver Dome awards and placing 22 other finalists.

The station revealed a list of winners and finalists via a press release.

For Best Radio Newscast, Ally Cooper won first place, with Allie Hunn and Connor Allyn included as finalists.

Brendon Saam won first place for Best Radio Aircheck, with Cami Serrahn and Brendan Boss as finalists.

Stephanie Sendra, Cami Serrahn, and Adam Tichler for Best Radio Spot for “Jazz Up Front”. Nicholas Koustas, Riley Ward, and Jameson Warfield were finalists in this category for their work on “Times Past In”, along with Quinn Hurley, Cason Schingoethe, and Collette Schnoor for “Waiting Room Records”.

The award for Best Radio Recorded Promotion went to Nicholas Koustas for the “New in Normal Promo”. Quinn Hurley and Marcellus Wilson were finalists for the “TikTok Promo”.

Jason Zaehler won first place in the Best Radio PSA category for the “ISU Mental Health Services PSA”, with “Baby Fold’s Festival of Trees” by Elise Knudson, Reilly Aten, and Iris Palmier also nominated as finalists.

First place for Best Radio News Story went to Bella Marello for her work on the story “Local Response to Increased ICE Protests”. Other finalists in the category included were June Delahunty’s “Public Officials Out of the Office” and Colleen Holden’s “Life of a Legislator”.

For the category of Best Sports Story, Jaden Cohn was a finalist for “Redbird Women’s Basketball Season Recap”.

Liam Lyons, Jaden Cohn, and Connor Allyn won first place in the Best Radio Longform Journalism Programming category for their “RedZone Interview with NIL Coordinator Brennan White”. Colleen Holden was a finalist for her “Special Edition Birds-I-View: Rape Culture at ISU” and Ally Cooper, Bella Marello, and Colleen Holden for “Birds-I-View: Local Impact of The Big Beautiful Bill”.

Liam Lyons and Connor Allyn were winners of the Best Radio Longform Entertainment Programming category for “Special Edition RedZone – Live from the FCS National Championship Game Tailgate”, with “New Music Monday” from Elizabeth Zoerner, Logan Moeller, and the WZND Music Team.

Zoerner and Moeller were finalists again alongside Lily Cerreto for the Best Use of New Media category for their work on “Bonus Track Podcast”.

Liam Lyons and Connor Allyn won the first place award for the Best Live Game Sports Broadcast for “Redbird Football vs Montana State in the FCS National Championship”. Jaden Cohn and Cason Schingoethe were finalists for “Redbird Men’s Basketball vs Belmont”.

WZND won more first place awards and nominated more finalists than all other college radio stations in Illinois combined. The success at the Silver Dome Awards adds on to the vast success the station has had in recent years.