Graduate Assistant Spotlight: Camryn Edens

Boise State Athletics is spotlighting the graduate assistants who work to help each department within athletics run smoothly while obtaining their master's degree. These features will tell the stories of graduate assistants while also giving information on what each department within Boise State Athletics does.

Camryn Edens is a first-year graduate assistant working in the media relations department at Boise State Athletics while pursuing a degree in the Master of Athletic Leadership (MAL) program.

"I chose to pursue a degree in the MAL because it was a great opportunity for me to continue building experience in the workplace, while getting my masters," said Edens.

Edens graduated with her B.S. in applied mathematics with an emphasis in statistics from Boise State in December 2022. She also earned a certificate in sport information and culture, where she was introduced to media relations through her adjunct instructor, Joe Nickell, in 2021, who at the time was the Boise State associate athletics director of athletic media relations. She worked as an intern for the department for about a year and a half, before transitioning into the graduate assistant role.

"Our graduate assistants are a valuable asset to our office and the athletics department, said assistant athletic director of athletic media relations Craig Lawson. "Just like our full-time staff, they are responsible for the day-to-day publicity for their assigned sports. They get the opportunity to be involved first-hand in the various aspects of media relations while earning their master's degree."

Responsibilities of the media relations department include drafting content for BroncoSports.com, including game previews and recaps, feature stories and general press releases, handling all media requests and interviews for student-athletes and coaches of sports assigned, designing, researching and drafting comprehensive game note packages, travel for road competition with assigned sports, developing strategic plans and posting content from various social media platforms, updating record books and keeping track of statistics for assigned sports with various softwares.

The sports assigned to Edens for the 2023-24 athletic year are men's and women's cross country, men's and women's track & field and women's tennis. She is also the secondary contact for women's basketball.

During the 2023 cross country season, Edens has helped publicize the men's and women's successes, including six All-Mountain West, three MW weekly honors, two All-Region, two Boise State Ford Student-Athlete of the Week honorees, and their Freshman of the Year, Julia Kiesler.

"Having graduate assistants is great because every year we have people bringing in new ideas, especially for social media, on how to highlight the teams' achievements," said Bronco Cross Country/Track & Field Associate Head Coach Travis Hartke. "I feel like Camryn and past assistants have been able to do things we wouldn't necessarily think of to spotlight our teams."

The Boise State men's cross country team was also ranked as high as No. 23 nationally this season, and had senior Joe Hudson qualify for the 2023 Division I Men's Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 18.

While working in the athletics department and pursuing a degree in the MAL, Edens is also earning a master's degree from the University of Mississippi in sport analytics. After the completion of both programs, she plans to pursue a career as a sports analyst for a Major League Baseball team.

"The best part of this experience has really been the people," said Edens. "Everyone in the program, and even the athletics department as a whole, are very close because of common goals and shared experiences."

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