Christopher Hess

Fifth Year / Broadcast Journalism

Hailing from Long Island, Christopher is a fifth-year with experience broadcasting football, volleyball, hockey, baseball, softball and public address announcing. Chris has been featured on State College Saturdays, CommRadio’s Saturday college football pregame show, Daylate Tailgate, CommRadio’s Sunday college football recap show, and on a number of podcasts. Chris also writes a number of articles during football and hockey season and is an insider for the men’s hockey team. Chris is also a co-host on Hockey Night in State College and 1st & 10. Chris is interested in either play-by-play or working in the sports media department for a college or professional sports team alongside being a sports radio personality. To contact Chris, email @christopherhess22@gmail.com.

Preston Shoemaker

Senior / Journalism

Preston Shoemaker is a senior Bellisario Fellow from Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania and is majoring in broadcast journalism. He is a director, play-by-play broadcaster and writer for the CommRadio sports department. He is also an executive producer for the Centre County Report and the newly formed After the Whistle. Preston is the Broadcast Assistant for the Altoona Curve, Double-A Affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he serves as a play-by-play broadcaster and works with media relations. Preston aspires to become a professional play-by-play broadcaster. To contact him, send an email to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or follow on Twitter @prestonshoe21.

Andrew Destin

Senior / Broadcast Journalism

Andrew Destin is a senior from Saratoga, California majoring in broadcast journalism and political science. Destin currently creates weekly content for CommRadio, as well as broadcasts and beat writes at live sporting events. Destin also works for the Big Ten Network as a play-by-play broadcaster for various sports on campus. Destin has perviously interned for the Santa Cruz Sentinel as a sports writer, for WPSU as a radio news reporter and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as a sports writer. You can contact him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Jake Starr

Senior / Broadcast Journalism

Jake Starr is a soon-to-be graduate from Penn State. He has spent the last year and a half as the general manager of CommRadio, where he helped oversee all seven departments and over 200 members. Prior to that, Jake worked as the station’s news director. In addition, he is a play-by-play broadcaster with experience calling nine sports across various outlets. In addition to calling games for CommRadio, Jake has called games for Big Ten Plus and ESPN+ for Bucknell University. For the last two summers, he has worked in summer collegiate baseball. Most recently, Jake served as a broadcaster for the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League. You can follow Jake on Twitter @jstarr1999 and email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)!

Andre Magaro

Senior / Broadcast Journalism

Andre Magaro is a senior from Enola, Pennsylvania majoring in broadcast journalism. He is one of CommRadio’s two student general managers. It’s there that Andre does play-by-play broadcasting of Penn State sporting events, and helps with the everyday operation of Penn State’s student-run radio station Andre is also a sports anchor and reporter for the Centre County Report, in addition to doing play-by-play for B1G+ as well. In the past, he has completed a broadcast internship in the Northwoods League for the Kalamazoo Growlers, provided feature articles and game day social media coverage of Penn State Men’s Soccer for Penn State Athletics, and produced articles on Penn State sports for Armchair Media. He can be contacted via email at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and on Twitter @andre_magaro.

Neil Conley

Senior, fourth-year / Broadcast Journalism

Neil Conley is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. He calls play-by-play for various sports and is also a beat writer and board operator for CommRadio. He hosts a talk show, Current Events with Conley, for Commradio. He writes articles and contributes to podcasts for Commradio as well. Also, he writes scripts, records shots and edits video for After the Whistle, a student-run high school football production and broadcast. Football is his favorite sport, specifically at the collegiate level. He is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. To contact him, his email is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Alex Rocco

Third-Year / Broadcast Journalism

Alex Rocco is a third-year student from Long Island, New York majoring in broadcast journalism. Rocco is a general manager, football reporter and broadcaster for CommRadio. Along with covering football for CommRadio, he’s a women’s soccer reporter for The Daily Collegian. Rocco got his start as the president of his high school sports media department, where he wrote numerous articles and broadcasted many games. If you would like to contact him, his email is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Tim Rogers

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Mac Young

Second Year / Broadcast Journalism

Maclain Young is a third-year student from Ocean City, New Jersey majoring in broadcast journalism at Penn State. He writes articles weekly for CommRadio’s sports department ranging across all five major sports. Maclain also contributes with play-by-play coverage, beat writes, board ops, and has even helped new members by producing State High Calls. Maclain usually goes by “Mac” and enjoys writing about the Philadelphia sports teams, which he follows vigorously. To contact him, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Jonathan Draeger

Third Year / Broadcast Journalism

Jonathan “Jon” Draeger is a third-year student from Butler, Pennsylvania, majoring in broadcast journalism at Penn State University. He is the Production Director for CommRadio, alongside his work as a broadcaster and producer for the Sports department and insider for Penn State Men’s Basketball. Jon also works on the “After The Whistle” live show. He was apart of the social media and on-field entertainment crew for the Butler Bluesox in the summer of 2021 and worked as a Broadcast Intern for the Saugerties Stallions of the PGCBL in the summer of 2022. If you would like to contact him, you can do so at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Eric Fenstermaker

Senior / Broadcast Journalist

Eric Fenstermaker is a senior from Northampton, Pennsylvania, majoring in broadcast journalism. He is also minoring in business and sports studies and pursuing a certificate in sports journalism.

Eric is involved in After the Whistle and Penn State Sports Night (PSSN). For COMM Radio, Eric contributes to a variety of different podcasts and co-hosts the Hail Mary radio show, which is dedicated to analyzing NFL games.

Eric loves conversation and interaction with sports fans, and he looks to help generate meaningful dialogues in the sports world. Eric aims to create content that is accurate, timely and impactful. To contact Eric, email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Austin Groft

Senior / Broadcast Journalism

Austin Groft is a senior student from Lancaster, Pennsylvania majoring in broadcast journalism at Penn State. He is a play-by-play announcer for CommRadio and Big Ten Plus. Austin also is a reporter for the Centre County Report and After the Whistle. To contact Austin, email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Kelly Warner

Senior /

Kelly Warner is a senior, Broadcast Journalism major from Charlotte, NC. She is the President of the Penn State chapter of the Association for Women in Sports Media and a producer for both Penn State Sports Night and the high school football show “After The Whistle”. In the fall of 2021, Kelly was a sports anchor/producer for Centre County Report and served as an executive producer for the show in the spring. She formerly interned with the Charlottesville Tom Sox, a summer baseball team in Virginia, as a multimedia intern and also partook in the international reporting trip to Scotland.

Chris Lemmo

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Alexa Leidlein

Senior / Broadcast Journalism /

Alexa Leidlein, or better known as Lexy, is a senior from Newtown, Connecticut majoring in broadcast journalism and minoring in sports studies. Leidlein currently serves as the News Producer for Penn State Network News and Treasurer of PSNTv. Leidlein creates content for Penn State Sports Night and is a dedicated member of Penn State’s chapter of the Association for Women in Sports Media, known as AWSM. Leidlein previously interned with Stapleton Sports Group as a social media intern. Leidlein works for Penn State Campus Recreation with the Competitive Sports division and the Customer Service division. You can contact her at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Brooke Steach

Senior / Broadcast Journalism

Brooke Steach is a senior from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania majoring in broadcast journalism with a minor in sports studies and is also a part of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism. At Penn State, she is involved in Penn State Sports Night, PSN News, AWSM, The Daily Collegian, 46Live, Unrivaled Pregame Show, CommRadio, Centre County Report, and Penn State Athletics production. If you’d like to contact her, email her at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Carlos Garcia

Junior /

Carlos Garcia is a junior from Miami, Florida, studying broadcast journalism. Carlos is involved with play-by-play for various Penn State sports and is a contributing writer for sports articles in CommRadio. Outside of CommRadio, Carlos is an Executive Producer for “After the Whistle”, a news anchor for PSN News, and the Creator of “Valley Network Sports”. Carlos has had the opportunity to report internationally in Estonia and work with the MLB Network as a sophomore. His career goals include covering news and sports at a national level. To contact him, email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Matthew Gelhard

Fourth-year /

Matthew Gelhard is a senior from Mount Airy, Maryland, and is majoring in broadcast journalism. Matthew is currently a reporter and photographer for CommRadio. Matthew spent his first two years of school at Penn State Mont Alto where he worked as an Assistant in Athletic Communications and was a member of the baseball team. Matthew also has experience with play-by-play with the USCAA and writing and video for the Associated Press. Contact him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Zac Larew

Senior /

Joshua Hallenbeck

4th Year / Telecommunications

Joshua Hallenbeck is a senior from Downingtown, PA and is majoring in telecommunications. He is a avid sports and nature photographer.