BEDFORD – Justin Sokeland, a fixture in Indiana sports journalism for nearly four decades, has been named the 2025 Corky Lamm Sportswriter of the Year by the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association (ISSA).
The award adds to an impressive collection of accolades for Sokeland, 62, who currently serves as the high school sports editor and publisher for WBIW.com and BNLathletics.com. He provides comprehensive coverage of Bedford North Lawrence High School athletics in his current role while producing a daily morning sports report for WBIW radio.
Sokeland’s distinguished career spans 38 years, covering Indiana and national sports. His journey began at the Bedford Times-Mail, where he worked as a writer and Sports Editor from 1986 to 2004. He then spent 12 years (2004-2016) at the Louisville Courier-Journal as their Indiana high school basketball reporter and golf writer before taking on his current position.
A 1980 graduate of Orleans High School who studied at both Purdue University and Vincennes University, Sokeland has earned numerous professional honors throughout his career. His work has been recognized with multiple first-place awards from the Associated Press Media Editors (APME) and the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), including honors in 1990 and 2000.
In 2022, Sokeland received two prestigious recognitions: the Distinguished Service Award from the Indiana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (ISA) for his significant contributions to interscholastic athletics and the Distinguished Media Service Award from the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA).
The West Lafayette native’s dedication to sports journalism appears to run in the family – his oldest son, Kyle, currently works as a sports reporter for the Evansville Courier & Press. Sokeland and his wife Susan, who have been married for 38 years, have five adult children – Kyle, Kamden, Kolter, Kollin, and McKenna – and five grandchildren.
Sokeland will be honored alongside other award recipients at the ISSA’s annual awards banquet on April 6 at Valle Vista Country Club in Greenwood.
Also being honored in the incoming Hall of Fame Class are:
Curt Cavin, Indianapolis Star & Indycar.com – After graduating from Franklin College, Cavin quickly found full-time employment with the Indianapolis Star beginning in 1987. Cavin scribed about high school sports and Indiana basketball for over a decade while also writing about motor sports. By 2001, Cavin had become The Star’s lead motorsports writer, covering Indy 500s, Brickyard 400s, and the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix. Cavin contributed to WTHR for many years and hosted “Trackside” with Kevin Lee, which is in its 18th year of airing on 93.5 and 107.5 The Fan in Indy. Cavin shifted into INDYCAR administration in 2016, and he now writes all things motor sports for INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Len Davis, WGL Radio, Fort Wayne (deceased) – From 1949 to 1980, Davis called over four thousand basketball games on the airwaves of WGL Radio, averaging a clip of over 90 games per season. The exploits of Davis over the airwaves weren’t limited to high school hoops as his range of events broadcast spanned activities such as the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League to weekly stock car races. After retiring from WGL, Davis continued doing basketball games on local cable television for a decade. Davis won the Distinguished Service Award from the IHSAA in 1995 and passed away in 1997.
Brian Hammons, WXIN/WRTV/Golf Channel _ The Anderson native began his broadcast career with WRTV in Indianapolis while still a student at Butler University. That would eventually lead to being part of the Indiana Pacers television broadcasts and becoming sports director at WXIN in Indianapolis. In 1994, Hammons then had the opportunity to be one of the first voices and faces of The Golf Channel, which launched in January of 1995. Hammons hosted Golf Central and did play-by-play for PGA, LPGA, and Champions Tour events, and even had a role in the movie Tin Cup.
Tony Kale, WCLS Bloomington/Ellettsville – Kale has spent 38 years gracing the radio airwaves of the state of Indiana, and the last 37 of those have included doing play-by-play for high school sports. All of those have been in the area surrounding Bloomington, whether that’s WLSO in Spencer, WSKT in Ellettsville, or now WCLS based in Bloomington. Kale was the 2009 Marv Bates Award winner from the ISSA and is approaching nearly 1,400 career games, including six state championship appearances. Tony serves as the voice of the Edgewood Mustangs, handles numerous Owen Valley broadcasts, and hosts the morning show on WCLS as well.
Vince Turner, Elkhart Truth/WTRC Radio – A member of the Elkhart County Sports Hall of Fame, Turner spent nine years chronicling all things Elkhart sports and then an additional 13 years talking about them. Turner has previously received awards from Indiana football, wrestling, and baseball coaches and athletic directors. Over the airwaves, Turner called area high school football and basketball, plus Notre Dame basketball. These days, Turner is a communications specialist for the Goshen Chamber of Commerce.
Curt Rallo, South Bend Tribune – Rallo spent 38 years covering everything South Bend sports for the Tribune, ranging from Notre Dame, Big Ten, and South Bend SilverHawks/Cubs baseball to major league sports in both Chicago and Indianapolis. These days, Rallo still covers the Irish for the Associated Press and baseball for MILB.com in the Midwest League. Rallo was a winner of the IHSAA Distinguished Media Service Award in 1996. Rallo also teaches at Penn High School in both the English and journalism departments and has done so since 2001.
In addition to these new Hall of Famers, the Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association will recognize winners of annual honors such as the Marv Bates Sportscaster of the Year, the Corky Lamm Sportswriter of the Year, the Bob Williams Helping Hand Award, and the Ron Lemasters Lifetime Achievement Award. The winners are as follows:
Marv Bates Sportscaster of the Year: Todd Kibbey, Regional Radio Sports Network — While Kibbey has been active in play-by-play since 1993, he made the move across state lines to Indiana in 1998 and has been either courtside or in a press box ever since. Kibbey spent four years calling games for WJOB in Hammond and then joined Regional Radio Sports in 2002. Kibbey has covered a variety of teams for RRSN in the last 23 years but has been the primary voice of Lowell High School football since 2012 and East Chicago Central hoops over the previous three seasons.
Bob Williams Helping Hand Award: Bill Wagner, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications, Depauw University – Wagner, affectionately known as ‘Wags,’ has been a fixture of all things DePauw sports since 1986. Wagner is a member of the College Sports Communicators Hall of Fame and has worked off-campus events ranging from the Pan Am Games in 1987 to the 2010 NCAA Final Four. He has served on CSC’s Academic All-America Committee for over 20 years, was on the CSC Board of Directors for three years, and was elected the first president of D3SIDA (2008-11). Wagner oversees communications for all 23 intercollegiate athletic programs at DePauw and the annual Monon Bell Classic between the Tigers and Wabash College, perhaps the biggest game in all of small college football, which has aired on ABC, AXS TV, Fox Sports Indiana, and now ISC Sports Network over the years. He has served as the media host for over 100 NCAA Division III competitions, including three national championships.
Ron Lemasters Lifetime Achievement Award: Pat McKee, Indianapolis Star _ McKee covered a variety of teams and events for The Star, primarily on the high school sports beat. Following his days of covering sports, he spent 11 years coaching them at a very high level, serving as the girls’ basketball coach at Columbus North, leading the Bull Dogs to the 2015 4A state championship. McKee has remained active both as a writer and with basketball, as he assists the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association’s administration of the Indiana-Kentucky All-Star series, maintaining and adding to the records database for the game and all of Indiana high school basketball. He won the IHSAA Distinguished Media Service Award in 2002 and the ISSA Corky Lamm Award in 2005. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and the ISSA Hall of Fame in 2009.
These ten honorees will be recognized at the association’s annual banquet on April 6, which begins at 2 p.m. at Valle Vista Country Club in Greenwood. Tickets are available, and a meal is included for $50. To order tickets, send a check for $50 to Fred Inniger, ISSA Treasurer, 3011 Noble Hawk Drive, Kendallville, IN 46755.
Also, those wanting to renew their memberships to the ISSA, or to become new members, send $25 to Fred for your annual dues.
Please order your banquet tickets before March 24.
The Indiana Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association was founded in 1946. The ISSA created its Hall of Fame 50 years later in 1996. The Hall of Fame currently has 147 members including this year’s honorees.
