NEW ORLEANS — Staff members Yamlak Tsega and Ed Cassiere won awards for their work with Xavier University of Louisiana Athletics.
        In the Louisiana Sports Writers Association 2023-24 college sports information/communications contest, Tsega earned third place in Division VIII — best college photo, and Cassiere was second in Division III — release/feature (women's basketball/softball).
        Tsega's entry was a photo of the men's tennis team celebrating VanDer Woody's clinching point in a 4-2 home victory against Our Lady of the Lake in the championship round of an NAIA unaffiliated group tournament. Cassiere's entry was a recap of the Gold Nuggets' 59-48 basketball home victory against NAIA No. 15 Loyola.
        Cassiere earned three awards in 2024-25 contests:
        •  First place in LSWA Division III — release/feature (women's basketball/softball) for his recap of the Gold Nuggets' 72-47 basketball home victory against William Carey in the second round of NAIA nationals. That award was announced Sunday.
        •  Second place in the District 6 college division of the College Sports Communicators Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest — a historical feature on 1950s XULA football/baseball starter Alvin Martin celebrating his 90th birthday on campus.
        •  Ninth place in the NAIA's Dr. Jack Bell Writing Contest for feature stories — the Martin birthday.
        The LSWA judge said of Cassiere's XULA-William Carey story: "A well-organized, succinct account of the Xavier women's basketball team advancing past the NAIA tournament second round for the first time in 10 tries. The category winner packed a lot of facts and a couple of pertinent quotes in a 380-word story."
        Cassiere has received 101 awards, 32 for first place, for sportswriting and sports information. He began his professional career as a 10th-grader in 1974 in his hometown, Shreveport, La. The 2025-26 academic year will be Cassiere's 20th as the publicist of XULA Athletics and Tsega's 13th as the department photographer.