New Castle’s Steve Auten to receive IHSAA Media Service Award
The long‐time “Voice of the Trojans” of WMDH/WLTI Radio in New Castle, Steve Auten is this year’s recipient
of the IHSAA’s Distinguished Media Service Award in District 2.
Auten’s contributions to education‐based athletics will be recognized this week when Commissioner Bobby Cox
and Sports Information Director Jason Wille make the presentation.
While known primarily for broadcasting New Castle boys and
girls basketball and football games, Auten also broadcast the
school’s baseball and softball games in spring as well. In the
event Trojan teams were eliminated from state tournament
competition, Auten would often call games for nearby schools
Shenandoah, Tri, Knightstown and Blue River Valley if their
teams were making runs in the tournament.
For 20 years, he also hosted a Saturday morning show “Sport
Corner” featuring all Henry County coaches during football and
basketball seasons and “Sports Beat”, a Monday night program
spotlighting student‐athletes from area schools in other sports.
With more than 1,500 broadcasts to his credit between 1988
and 2016, Auten was behind the microphone for more
broadcasts than any announcer in Henry County sports history.
Auten’s career actually began in nearby Knightstown where he
served as a teacher and coach for high school and junior high
baseball and a varsity assistant football coach under Hall of Fame
coach Don Willard.
After a stint as a teacher and coach at Westmer High School in Joy, Illinois, Auten eventually returned home to
New Castle and continued to support youth sports by coaching in the community’s Babe Ruth League for 19
years including managing the league’s 1980 13‐year‐old state championship team. In 1988, the local radio
station approached him about doing color commentary for New Castle games launching his journey in radio.
Auten is the second New Castle resident to receive this award joining the late John Hodge, former sports editor
of the New Castle Courier-Times, who was honored in 2000‐01. Auten and Hodge were good friends for many
years.
This is the 34th year the IHSAA has recognized outstanding members of the Indiana news media from each of
its three legislative districts for excellence in the coverage of high school sports. District 2 covers 28 counties
across northern and central Indiana. Award recipients are selected by members of the IHSAA Executive
Committee from nominations received from member school administrators.
