SEGUIN, Texas -- The  Texas Lutheran Sports Information and Sports Marketing staff led by Director of Sports Information and Sports Marketing Bryce Hayes was named Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Sports Information Staff of the Year in exclusive voting by their peers within the conference as announced by the conference on Monday.

The SCAC Sports Information Staff of the Year award began prior to the 2016-17 season.

This is the fourth time in department history and second time in the last four years under the leadership of Hayes, TLU has earned the honor. The Bulldogs' staff also won the award in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2022-23 with the latter coming in the second year of Hayes' tenure. TLU joins Trinity as the only other SID department to secure this honor four times in SCAC history. 

 
The Texas Lutheran University sports information department is spearheaded by Hayes but he is joined by his staff of students and former students: Ben Coulombe, Callie Brame, Hays Wilson, Teja Munoz, Terry Barnes, Kayla Ramirez, Kris Jones, Sidney Cox, Alysa Marquez, Lexi Coward, Brooklyn Coward, Kamilah Tanner, Kristina Cromwell, Harleigh Russell, Emma Alvarado, Skylar LeBlanc, Monica Sitachitta, Drew Burnett, Cady Bowyer, Kezia Alvear, Mia Landry, Cameren Davis, Jessica Robinson, Ashlyn Suarez, Evan Silva, Missy Muras, Beau Hill, Joaquin Sanchez, Nell Horton, Charleigh Phipps, Elena Alarcon, and Phoenix Cosley.

Texas Lutheran's sports information department handled media coverage for all 19 varsity programs, including covering the men's soccer team's historic run to the NCAA Tournament for just the third time in program history after winning the SCAC Tournament last fall. Hayes led the Office of Sports information and Sports Marketing as it handled game-day management, statistics, public address announcing, video streaming and production and other duties for over 100 home games and events throughout the year. Hayes' commitment to producing and distributing original content that highlights Bulldog student-athletes has played a key role in expanding the department's digital presence. The Bulldogs' primary X (Twitter) and Instagram accounts now reach a combined audience of more than 12,750 followers, representing growth of over 3,380 followers since the program last claimed this honor in 2022-23. The TLU Instagram peaked between the months of March and April surpassing over one million impressions over a 30 day span.

In addition, Hayes covered both the NCAA Softball Regional and Super Regional Rounds during the 2026 Tournament and moved the entire TLU+ network onto the FloCollege network this academic year.

"Sports Information Directors are responsible for preserving and promoting the stories that define an athletics program," said SCAC Commissioner Dwayne Hanberry. "The work being done at Texas Lutheran exemplifies the impact a dedicated communications professional can have in elevating student-athlete achievements, strengthening institutional visibility, and creating meaningful connections with alumni, fans, and supporters."

"I don't even know where to start," said Hayes. "Every year I have been at Texas Lutheran I believe I've found a way to win some form of an award or honor, but something about this one in particular is not just for me but for what I would argue is one of if not the best student teams in the country. People love to mention my work ethic as "one of the hardest working people in sports," as a number of our contracted workers have bestowed on me but I just view that as the mentality drilled into me from my parents to aspire to be the best at whatever you put your mind to. While that may sound good on the surface and can feel good in the moment sometimes, there's a lot that goes into that that people don't see. If I can speak candidly, this year was extremely hard and took a huge toll on me mentally and physically. In many ways, this year was harder than the first year when I moved here five years ago as a kid younger than some of the students I employ to take over this department. I'm grateful for the TLU coaching staff members that were able to help keep me afloat as well as these students, especially the ones that saw some of those days where I wasn't my best. I can't say enough about this crew. They were put in a situation where, honestly, it probably should have failed and at times was probably unfair to them but they were able to overcome and grow exponentially to make sure everything was covered and we maintained the standard of "being the best at what we do." I get a lot of the credit but as I've said before, with the amount of support I get from our students, many of whom are student-athletes, I get to serve as a quarterback and just manage everyone while they truly make all of this work. I also want to thank Dustin Wyatt, Darren Dunn and Chris Austin of KWED, Greg Burnett, the Trinity Sports Information Staff, EJ Sanchez, Justin Simmons, TJ Vela, and Cole Paveglio who all came in clutch for us throughout the year as contracted workers. 

I'll end with this, we're losing a lot of talented students to graduation this summer. If you're hiring and see "Texas Lutheran Sports Information," on their resumes they have more than likely gone through the wringer and will be true assets to your department. And on an even bigger scale, just take care of your communications people whether it be financially or physically the landscape is ever-changing in what can be a thankless job at times and I want to thank my peers once again for the recognition."

The conference release can be read here.
 
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