NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Christopher Newport University proudly announces that Senior Director of Athletic Communications Francis Tommasino has been recognized by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) with the distinguished 25-Year Award on Thursday afternoon. This award recognizes CSC members who have dedicated 25 years of full time service or more to the sports communications profession. 

"Francis is a pillar within our department and our larger community for his professionalism, his kindness, and his steadfast commitment to sharing the stories of Captains athletes with the entire world," said Director of Athletics Kyle McMullin. "As an institution, we are beyond fortunate to have someone with Francis' professionalism delivering thousands of heart-stopping moments to our alumni, family, and fans on the air and over the internet."

Tommasino, who started his tenure at Christopher Newport in 1996, completed his 25th year as a full-time employee of the University last summer. In total, he has been a Captain for nearly 30 years serving as the "Voice of the Captains" as the play-by-play broadcaster for CNU Men's Basketball on Xtra 99.1 FM since 1996. He has also been on the call for every fall football game played in CNU program history and has been heard on well over 1,000 career radio broadcasts at Christopher Newport. 

Over the course of his career, Tommasino has brought CNU fans the action for 49 NCAA Tournament Men's Basketball games, including the crowning achievement in 2023 when the Captains captured the first men's basketball national championship in CNU history. Additionally, Tommasino has brought play-by-play action for each of the Captains' 15 NCAA Tournament football games and countless postseason baseball and softball games.
 
Though he is best known as the Voice of the Captains, Tommasino was originally hired as Christopher Newport's Assistant Sports Information Director in 1996 and has helped lead the publicity efforts for the nationally-relevant Division III program for nearly three decades. He serves as the chair of the Carl & Denise Farris Hall of Fame at Christopher Newport and has also been an active member of the College Sports Communicators and Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID). Tommasino serves as the primary contact for the nationally-ranked CNU softball team and handled all the media relations needs when they won the 2022 NCAA Division III national championship.  
 
Last summer, the Olean, New York native added another major award to an ever-growing list of accomplishments throughout his career as he was recognized as the Bob Moskowitz Media Award winner from the Peninsula Sports Club. The award is presented annually to an area media person for exemplary presentation of area sports.

Tommasino is a 1986 graduate of St. Bonaventure University and called the action for the Division I men's basketball team for seven seasons as the play-by-play announcer from 1988-95. He was also enshrined into the Olean High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017 for his contributions as a student statistician and his lifelong work in athletics.

Following this week's announcements of all awards, CSC will highlight recipients throughout the spring with special individualized content and social media recognitions and honor them in person during the June CSCUNITE26 convention in Las Vegas (June 7-10). Tommasino was recognized with 24 other athletics communications professionals on Thursday.