News

A fixture on the Indiana sports scene for 36 years, Lynn Houser has been selected by the IHSAA Executive Committee to receive the 2012-13 Distinguished Media Service Award for District 3.

Houser’s contributions to high school sports will be recognized on Friday prior to the Bloomington South-Edgewood boys basketball game in Ellettsville. IHSAA Commissioner Bobby Cox and Sports Information Director Jason Wille will make the presentation.

After 28 years as a sportswriter for the Bloomington Herald-Times, Houser retired from the journalism profession last March. He began his career in 1976 serving as sports editor of the Kendallville News-Sun before joining the Bloomington newspaper in 1984, then known as the Herald-Telephone.

His duties have taken him to 18 Indiana high school basketball finals and 15 Indiana high school football finals, four NCAA Final Fours, three NBA Conference Finals and the 2007 Super Bowl to cover the Indianapolis Colts, a team he began reporting on in 1995.

The 62-year-old has been the recipient of numerous writing awards during his career. The Hoosier State Press Association (HSPA), Indiana Associated Press Managing Editors (IAPME), Indiana Society of Professional Journalists (ISPJ) and the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association (ISSA) have all lauded him for his work including Indiana Sportswriter of the Year in 1994 and “Best of American Sports Writing” in 2007.

“Lynn treated all sports fairly and not just the more popular ones,” said Edgewood Director of Athletics Mick Hammett. “You could feel his passion in his articles and his features of many players allowed the community to get to know them better and to understand the sacrifices that it takes to be a varsity athlete.”

Houser is a member of two halls of fame. In 2008, he entered the Bloomington City Golf Hall of Fame for his years of coverage and in 2010 was inducted into the ISSA Hall of Fame. He currently serves as president of the Monroe County Sports Hall of Fame and has been vice president of the ISSA since 2004.

He is the third member of the Herald-Times to be honored by the IHSAA with this award joining Rex Kirts in 1985-86 and John Harrell in 1994-95. Previous Award Winners

A native of Fort Wayne, Houser graduated from Bishop Dwenger High School in 1968 and went on to earn a degree in journalism from Indiana University in 1972. Following college, Houser served four years in the United States Navy from 1972-76. He and his wife Patricia have been married for 28 years. They have three children and six grandchildren.

This is the 28th year the IHSAA has recognized outstanding members of the Indiana news media from each of its three legislative districts for excellence in the coverage of high school sports. Houser is the first individual to be honored this school year. District 3 covers 42 counties across southern Indiana.

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About the Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc. (IHSAA)
Founded in 1903, the purpose of the Indiana High School Athletic Association, Inc. (IHSAA) is to encourage, regulate and give direction to wholesome amateur interschool athletic competition between its 410 member schools. The Association provides state championship tournament series in 20 sports, 10 for girls and 10 for boys. Approximately 160,000 student athletes participate in IHSAA sports on an annual basis.