Arnolt Center students Brian Gring and Ava Westendorf at the Fall National College Media Conference in Kansas City, Missouri.

BLOOMINGTON – A collaboration between the Arnolt Center for Investigative Journalism and the Indiana Daily Student won a second-place Pinnacle College Media Award for investigative sports story.

Center students Mia Hilkowitz, Ava Westendorf, Brian Gring, Grace Bundy, Peyton Smith and Jacob Spudich spent a semester requesting NIL disclosures from Big Ten schools through a series of public records requests. The team contributed research and reporting to the story, “Could Big Ten schools use NIL deals to circumvent salary cap?”

IDS reporters Hilkowitz, Kasey Watkins, Nathan Shriberg and Savannah Stone wrote the story for the IDS.

Westendorf and Gring attended the Fall National College Media Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, on Nov. 4-7 for the award presentation.