WBAL Baltimore wins radio eclipse

The Baltimore radio station WBAL has been selected as the winner of the 2001 Eclipse Award for Audio for its coverage of the Preakness Stakes this year, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association announced Friday.

The broadcast was produced by Mark Miller and aired on May 19, 2001. It was the fourth Eclipse Award for radio coverage won by WBAL.

WBAL had a hometown advantage of sorts for the broadcast. The Preakness is held at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

"As a radio broadcaster at a time of radio consolidation, it feels great to focus as much of our resources as we do to a sport that has been so vital to the heritage of Maryland," Miller said in a prepared statement.

The award will be presented at a ceremony on Monday, Feb. 18, at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa in Hollywood, Fla.

The winner of the award was determined by a three-person panel: John Martin, the executive producer for ESPN Radio; George Nicholaw, vice president and general manager of KNX News Radio in Los Angeles; and Jim Militello, a sports reporter for Associated Press Radio Network.