Concordia's Matt Korte wins WHAC Sports Information Director of the Year

Posted: May 13, 2025

(Livonia, MI) - The Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) announced the honors for the 2024-25 Mike Dean/Patrick Moore Sports Information Director of the Year on Tuesday afternoon and Concordia Cardinals Sports Information Director Matt Korte was honored for the first time in his career and is the first Concordia SID to earn the honor. His nomination is now forwarded to the NAIA for National SID of the Year consideration.

Korte had this to say about winning this honor. "I'm extremely honored to be voted SID of the Year by my peers throughout the conference. It's been an honor working alongside all of the other SIDs throughout the WHAC and see the conference grow as a whole. There's so many people that I want to thank, but first and foremost is Assistant Sports Information Director Andrew Ripke. He is without a doubt the only way I could have gotten through these last few years and I'm blessed to have been privileged to work alongside one of my best friends."

The honor, named after former Madonna SID Patrick Moore who passed away unexpectedly in 2015 and long-time WHAC statistician Mike Dean, recognizes outstanding sports information professionals as chosen by head sports information directors in the conference.

Korte is in his fourth year as the head SID at Concordia following a pair of years as the assistant. Over the past four years he has helped promote 6 NCCAA National Championships, 9 Conference Championships, 12 CSC Academic All-Americans and over 230 Player of the Week winners.

"Concordia has a rich history of great Sports Information Directors that I have gotten to learn from, namely Kyle Thoms and Zach Johnston who turned a college freshman who didn't even know that the job existed into where I am today, someone who has worked in the office for nearly ten years and grown a passion for it. So many graduate assistants along the way made my life easier and just more enjoyable in general, so thank you Zack Werner, Trevor Travis, Jacob Brendtke, Jacob Culp, Kenna Millhouse, and Harrison Ryan. The support I received from Lonnie Pries and the long hours worked by countless student workers and interns through the years was more valuable than I could ever express," said Korte

He serves the head contact for the department's 28 varsity sports. He also served, this past year, on the WHAC SID Executive Committee as its Chair where he serves as a liaison for the SIDs to the WHAC Administrative committee. He also helped plan and was the play-by-play announcer for the NAIA Cheer and Dance National Championships this past season. He also served the conference as a NAIA National Player of the Week voter for several sports.

"Matt has been a blessing to Concordia in many ways," said CUAA Athletic Director Lonnie Pries. "He is a great example of servant leadership, hard work, and integrity. His reliability and willingness to help others is second to none. As Concordia went through this past year, Matt's commitment and loyalty to the students and staff has been unwavering."

Matt closed it out by saying "Finally, I want to thank my wife Becca, and daughter Selah for putting up with the late nights, long weekends, and extended trips away from home. You are the best support system I could ask for. I'm so proud to say I was able to represent Concordia until the very end. Go Cards!"

All-Time WHAC Patrick Moore-Mike Dean SID of the Year Award Winners

2007-08: Mike Dean, Aquinas

2008-09: Aaron Sagraves, Davenport

2009-10: Patrick Moore, Madonna

2010-11: Patrick Moore, Madonna

2011-12: Patrick Moore, Madonna

2012-13: Ryan Wronkowicz, Lourdes

2013-14: Ryan Wronkowicz, Lourdes

2014-15: Tim Johnston, Marygrove

2015-16: Dawn Harmon, WHAC

2016-17: Ryan Wronkowicz, Lourdes

2017-18: Tyler Stevenson, Indiana Tech