March 29, 2007

LIBERTY, Mo. - Nick Clark gets to hang out with athletes on a daily basis at William Jewell College. After graduation in May, he'll still be hanging out with athletes. This time, however, it will be with guys like Peyton Manning and Tiger Woods. And he'll be getting paid to do it.

Clark, a senior business administration major from Blue Springs, Mo., has accepted the position of Marketing Coordinator for the Event Marketing group of ESPN. Clark's new position will require a lot of traveling, and he will get to cover some popular events such as the Super Bowl, Rose Bowl, ESPY Awards and the summer and winter X Games just to name a few.

Clark was an intern at ESPN last summer and was able to make the Top 25 intern all-star team out of 117 interns. A former employee of Jewell alum and trustee Russ Cline, Clark used his Jewell connection to set up his internship. Cline, a member off the Jewell class of 1971, is president and CEO of the RCA Group, a sports and entertainment producer and promoter. He has worked closely with ESPN over the years and knows many people at the company.

"I worked really hard when I got there," said Clark. "I enjoyed working with the group that I interned with, so I decided to accept their job offer."

Clark spends a lot of his free time watching ESPN or reading on ESPN.com.

"ESPN.com is probably my number one website" Clark said. "Since I don't get to watch a whole lot of television, I probably spend a good hour reading articles on the website throughout the course of the day."

Those who know Clark praise his work ethic and goal-centered orientation.

"Nick is such a hard worker and has always been a joy to coach," said assistant track coach Terry Yee. "He has had to battle back from some tough injuries and has become a true leader on our team. I have no doubt that he will do an excellent job at ESPN."