The Bellmore-Merrick Broadcasting team placed second in the Student Television Network Spring Nationals in the category of Live Sports Broadcast for their coverage of the April 14 Senior Night girls volleyball game.

Last year, BMB received honorable mention in this same category.
BMB broadcast engineer Matt Russell saw the recognition as an award for the entire program.

“When we cover a sporting event, it is so much more than just the commentators,’” he said.

There were four camera operators, four camera assistants, a technical director, two people working the replays and a person doing live-text and statistics, he explained.
“It’s the team behind the team that also deserves this,” added Stu Stein, the broadcasting instructor.

Sophomores Sean McQuillan, Ellie Franquiz and Finnegan Corcoran-Doolin took home a third-place honor for best Sports Feature for their story on the return to high school sports.

“We are beyond excited for the kids for this accomplishment as the Student Television Network is a national organization including schools with long standing and prestigious broadcasting departments,” added Stein.

The STN announcement comes on the heels of BMB’s showing at the regional Broadcast Awards in Senior High hosted at Stony Brook where BMB students took home first place in Best Sports Package for a story on Mepham baseball’s Nick Walker by Michael Galfano, Tom Mauro, Matt Manno and Lily Yepez, a second-place finish in Best News Story and three third-place awards for Best Broadcast, Best Anchor Team and Best Public Service Announcement.

BMB Senior AJ Fried acknowledged what it means to be a part of a program gaining national recognition in just its fifth year.

“To even be in the conversation with these prestigious STN programs is an honor for us,” Fried said. “I’m so excited to see what the juniors and sophomores do next year.”

“BMB is looking forward to returning to a full slate of live sports and more when the 2021 school year starts in September,” added Russell. "The kids love doing live sports and it's probably the most exciting thing we do as a program. We're really happy that people are beginning to take notice of what our kids are doing."