West Virginia University P.I. Reed School of Journalism senior Sean Merinar recently won a first place award in the Broadcast Education Associations annualFestival of Media Artscompetition.

Merinar, a senior in the broadcast news sequence from Sand Hill, W.Va., placed first in the Broadcast News Sports Reporting Category of the BEA Festival for his profile piece on longtime West Virginia sports writer Mickey Furfari.

The BEA Festival of Media Arts competition is one of the top academic, juried competitions in the country for university faculty and students. The news division continues to attract a large number of entries (242) in the competition.

Merinar will graduate in May with a bachelors of science degree in journalism.