WINSTON-SALEM, NC- Three sportscasters and a sportswriter from the Cape-Atlantic League area are among the finalists for 2022 New Jersey state awards according to the National Sports Media Association (NSMA) here.

Mike McGarry is a finalist for the state’s Sportswriter of the Year and Mike Gill, Brian Cunniff and Mike Frankel are finalists for New Jersey Sportscaster of the Year. All are former winners of state awards from the NSMA.

McGarry is the longtime sportswriter and columnist for The Press of Atlantic City. He not only covers high school sports but also the Phillies, 76ers and other Philly teams. McGarry is a finalist for the sixth time and has won the top state award twice, the last time in 2016.

Gill, the popular afternoon radio host on 97.3-ESPN and occasional play-by-play voice for Prime Events and BFA Productions, shared the state award with Tom Williams in 2009. He has been a state finalist three times.

Cunniff is the play-by-play voice on 98.7-The Coast. Though this is his first nomination as a sportscaster, he was nominated twice as a sportswriter and was named the New Jersey winner in 2009 while writing for the Gazette-Leader newspapers.

Frankel – the major announcer, producer and videographer for Jersey Sports Zone – won the state sportscaster award in 2019. He also does occasional play-by-play for Prime Events and was the voice of the live video streams for the Ocean City Nor’easters soccer team.

There are seven other state finalists for the sports-writing award, including Marc Narducci of NJ.com, who also works as an announcer for a number of outlets, including Prime Events. And Tom McGurk, sports editor of the Courier-Post. They are joined by Chris Iseman of the Hackensack Record, Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press and Brendan Kuty, Pat Lanni and Steve Politi of NJ Advance Media.

In addition to Gill, Cunniff and Frankel, other finalists for the NJ Sportscaster of the Year award include Chris Carlin and Eric LeGrand of the Rutgers Radio Network, Dave Popkin of the Seton Hall Radio Network and Matt Harmon and Steve Cangialosi of Red Bulls Radio.

In addition to McGarry, Gill, Cunniff, Frankel and Williams, two others from the area have also been honored as best in the state in previous years. They are Dave Weinberg from the Press of Atlantic City and other outlets, a three-time winner and 20-time finalist, who last won in 2012. And the late Harry Hoffman of the Press of Atlantic City, who won in 1980.

The finalists for Pennsylvania Sportscaster of the Year include Breland Moore of Fox-29 Philadelphia, John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Kate Scott of the 76ers Network and Scott Franzke of WIP Radio.

This year, for the first time, the previous year’s state winners were not permitted to be nominated again.

The finalists for 2022 National Sportscaster of the Year are Adam Amin, Fox; Jason Benetti, Fox; Joe Buck, ESPN; Joe Davis, Fox; Ian Eagle, CBS; Kevin Harlan, CBS; Mina Kimes, ESPN; Al Michaels, Amazon; Jim Nantz, CBS; and Mike Tirico, NBC.

Final nominees for National Sportswriter include Pat Forde, Sports Illustrated; Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic; Katie Strang, The Athletic; Wright Thompson, ESPN.com; Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated; and Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN.com.

Sportscasters nominated for induction into the NSMA Hall of Fame include James Brown, Joe Buck, Mary Carillo, Lee Corso, Don Criqui, Chris Economaki, Dan Kelly, Jamie Jarrin, Tim McCarver, and Charlie Neal.

Sportswriters nominated for the Hall of Fame include Roger Angell, Ray Didinger, Mike Downey, Roger Kahn, Claire Smith and Ralph Wiley.

Voting for the state and national winners by NSMA members is underway and will continue throughout December. The NSMA plans to honor all winners at the group’s 63rd awards program in Winston-Salem from June 24-26.