Pac-12 Networks announces fall Olympic talent line-up
SAN FRANCISCO – Pac-12 Networks today announced its talent lineup of expert broadcasters who will cover a total of 256 live Olympic events this fall in men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, field hockey, ice hockey, men’s water polo, and cross country. In addition to the slate of returning on-air talent, Pac-12 Networks welcomes Joe Castellano, Steve Schlanger, Neil Sika, Aaron Heizen, Mark Rogondino, Nicole Branagh, Camryn Irwin, and Kelli Tennant to the on-air talent roster.
Branagh, Irwin, and Tennant all join Pac-12 Networks as women’s volleyball analysts. All three are former volleyball student-athletes, with both Irwin and Tennant having competed at Pac-12 schools. Irwin played at Oregon in 2010 then at Washington State from 2011-13. Tennant played at USC during the 2005 and 2006 seasons before transitioning her focus to broadcasting. Branagh played volleyball at Minnesota and went on to compete in the Olympics in beach volleyball. One other former Pac-12 student-athlete joins the team this year as Heizen played soccer for the Washington Huskies from 1998-2002; he will join Pac-12 Networks to do play-by-play for men’s soccer.
Troy Clardy and analyst Kyndra de St. Aubin are set to kick off Pac-12 Networks’ 2016-17 live telecast schedule with a women’s soccer match between Washington State and BYU on Friday, August 19 at 7 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Washington. JB Long, Kate Scott, Jim Watson, Christian Miles, Greg Mescall, Matt McConnell, Rich Cellini, Ann Schatz, Elise Woodward, Daron Sutton, Jason Knapp, Schlanger, Sika, and Castellano will all contribute to Pac-12 Networks’ women’s soccer play-by-play this season. Jordan Angeli, Tammy Blackburn, Tracey Bailey, Krista Blunk, Kelly Gray, Chris Sullivan, Temryss Lane, Danielle Slaton, and Alyson Wagner are set to add the analysis. Pac-12 Networks will televise 68 women’s soccer matches this fall.
The telecast schedule for men’s soccer begins on Friday, August 26 at 5 p.m. PT as Stanford hosts Penn State on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Bay Area. UCLA alumnus and former MLS player Cobi Jones returns to cover all the action on Pac-12 Networks alongside fellow analysts Sullivan, de St. Aubin, Gray, and Wagner. Cellini, Clardy, Long, Miles, Schatz, Sika, Heizen, Rogondino, and Rich Burk will be on men’s soccer play-by-play duties.
Women’s volleyball coverage gets underway Friday, August 26 with Oregon hosting Texas at 7 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Oregon. Veteran play-by-play announcer Anne Marie Anderson will return to Pac-12 Networks’ play-by-play coverage alongside Blunk, Burk, Knapp, Schlanger, Scott, Sutton, Woodward, Thad Anderson, Kevin Barnett, and Chris Marlowe. This season’s volleyball analysts include Blackburn, Branagh, Irwin, Tennant, Dain Blanton, Mike Dodd, Amy Gant, Josh Grau, Holly McPeak, Elizabeth Moreau, Al Scates, and Don Shaw. Pac-12 Networks is televising 91 women’s volleyball games this fall.
Knapp will team up with Leah Secondo and Kara Lentz to cover Pac-12 Networks’ three field hockey games this fall. The first broadcast of the season will be on Friday, September 2 when Stanford faces Michigan at 2 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Bay Area. The broadcast schedule closes with a rivalry matchup between Stanford and California on Sunday, October 23 at 1 p.m. PT.
Pac-12 Networks will also be airing three Arizona State men’s ice hockey games this fall: against Air Force, Harvard, and Michigan on October 16, October 28, and November 4 respectively. Knapp and McConnell will share play-by-play duties with Tyson Nash and Dave Starman handling the analysis.
The men’s water polo schedule on Pac-12 Networks begins with USC at Stanford on Saturday, September 17 at 1 p.m. PT. Kevin Danna will join Mescall and Watson on play-by-play duties, with Chris Dorst adding analysis for the telecasts.
Pac-12 Networks will televise the 2016 Pac-12 Women’s and Men’s Cross Country Championships from Tucson, Ariz. on tape-delay soon after the October 28 event. Watson will have the play-by-play assignment, with Dwight Stones as the analyst.
About Pac-12 Networks
Pac-12 Networks is the innovative TV and multimedia company of the Pac-12 Conference, and is the first such company to be wholly owned by 12 universities. Pac-12 Networks incorporates one national and six regional television networks, plus extensive digital content accessible through social media, university websites, and Pac-12 Now, its TV Everywhere service. Each year, Pac-12 Networks offers live coverage of 850 sporting events, making it one of the top live sports producers in the country. In addition, Pac-12 Networks creates extensive original programming, provides visibility for marquee football and basketball events as well as traditionally under-served women’s and Olympic sports. Pac-12 Networks also provides training and paid internships for thousands of students of the Pac-12’s member universities, preparing them for careers in media. With headquarters in San Francisco’s SOMA District, Pac-12 Networks draws on the creative, entrepreneurial, and technological culture of the Bay Area and nearby Silicon Valley. For more information, go to http://pac-12.com/networks.