2nd Annual HighSchool OT Honors Crowns 41 Winners in Sports from Fall, Winter & Spring

Capitol Broadcasting recently culminated a year-long campaign with the presentation of the HighSchoolOT Honors’ awards event. HighSchoolOT accepted nominations each sports season in fall, winter and spring, with nearly 60,000 votes cast for the best in high school sports in central and eastern North Carolina.

Finalists in each category represented 81 schools from 27 counties, and they were invited to attend the HSOT Honors awards event on June 15, 2019, at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts.

HSOT Senior Editor Nick Stevens and WRAL-TV Sports Anchor Jeff Gravley hosted the event. NFL player Nyheim Hines, a former Garner and NC State athlete who is now a running back for the Indianapolis Colts, served as the featured speaker. Guest hosts included 99.9 The Fan Sports Talk Hosts Adam Gold and Joe Ovies, The Sports Shop’s Reese and Kmac and retired WRAL-TV Sports Anchor Bob Holliday.

The hosts presented 41 awards at the 2019 HSOT Honors, with nearly 12,000 people making nominations or voting.

“Honors is a fantastic example of omnichannel marketing which gives our audience a cohesive experience across digital and physical channels,” said WRAL.com Director of Marketing Laura Worthington. “They have the opportunity to engage with us online, hear and see more on radio and TV, go behind the scenes and join the conversation via social, and we cap it off with an ESPYs-inspired event.”

The event was live streamed on HighSchoolOT.com, the HighSchoolOT app and WRAL’s OTT platforms. Five sponsors participated in the online campaign and were integrated into the event.

“Honors would not be possible without the CBC dream team involved in design, promotion and production from WRAL-TV, CBC New Media, CBC Audience Development and CBC Radio’s 99.9 The Fan and MIX 101.5,” said Worthington. “It’s so inspiring to see what we can accomplish when we work together. We’re already discussing ideas for 2019-20!”

Shortly after the event HighSchoolOT announced that is coverage will expand to include more than three-quarters of the state, growing to include the Triad and Charlotte markets.

“Our efforts are garnering attention outside of our market, too,” explained Worthington. “The platform we use to run online promotion recently invited me to speak on a webinar about Honors to almost 200 people who work in local news across the country.”

Thanks to NMG’s Laura Worthington for contributions to this capcom story and to Worthington & Suzie Wolf for these capcom photos.