MIKE LANZARONE operates a dugout camera for a live broadcast of the State College Spikes, a short-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. (Jack Bandy Photo)

Published in the August 28, 2018 edition.

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

STATE COLLEGE — It’s safe to say that Mike Lanzarone is off to a quick start at Penn State.

The 2018 graduate of Wakefield Memorial High School arrived at State College on June 23 for summer classes and already immersed himself in the many opportunities a school like PSU offers; especially for a student of sports media.

Between his two summer semester class, “Lanzy” continued to hone his production skills learned at Wakefield High. He did freelance camera work for WHVL, a local news station in association with the State College Spikes, the short-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Lanzarone ran the dugout camera for a live broadcast, gaining his first experience as a paid professional at a pro sporting event.

Lanzarone also helped out at Penn State football’s media day.

MIKE LANZARONE assisted Penn State Athletics at the football team’s 2018 Media Day at Beaver Stadium. (Courtesy Photo)

“I’m so excited to be getting involved this early, as I definitely enjoy being out on the field, and one day hope to make a career out of it,” said Lanzarone who will continue to do video work for PSU Athletics during his first year on campus as a Live Production Video Intern, which will allow him to experience any number of jobs on the production side of live sports broadcasts.

It’s a story that began a few years ago at Wakefield High. Lanzarone participated in WHSTV, a four-year TV program at the high school taught by Chris Constantine and Jonathan Berecz where students learn various skills of TV production such as camera operation, lighting scenarios, script writing and digital editing.

“Our goal is to help students advance these skills to a professional level and get them ready for not only college but to go right into the field,” said Constantine, who is impressed but not surprised at what Lanzarone is already doing in State College.

“Since day one, Mike always put in the effort to advance in the TV program and was eager to learn new techniques in the field,” said Constantine. “During his time in the program, Mike loved to produce the hockey events.  He would come to class during his free time and prepare for big shoots. This included gathering gear, testing equipment and reaching out to fellow classmates to form a solid crew. Mike also organized these events to be presented over a live feed through Facebook and Livestream. This was a huge leap in our program and Mike was at the forefront.”

Lanzarone remembers fondly these times of pioneering sports media and credits Constantine, Berecz and WHSTV for helping him learn the ins and outs of what was an instant passion.

“Most of what I’ve been able to do is in large part due to the WHSTV department, where Mr. Berecz and Mr. Constantine taught me what I know now, and encouraged me to try to get the hockey games live.”

Sure there were learning curves. You try finding a good place to set up a camera at Kasabuski or any local arena with a solid internet connection.

But learning how to troubleshoot during a live event is perhaps the most important production skill to learn. If you can figure out how to produce a broadcast at Stoneham Ice Arena, imagine what a breeze it will be at Beaver Stadium.

Lanzarone started doing video work for the Wakefield hockey team during his sophomore year, after his third concussion playing soccer resulted in him having to step away from field.

Or so he thought.

Instead, he found a home at WHSTV covering the sports he loved and built a reputation over the years that eventually resulted in his classmates asking him to create “hype videos” for their teams once he got his own camera senior year. These can be seen on Lanzarone’s Twitter account @_Lanzy_. He made videos for girls’ basketball, boys’ hockey and boys’ lacrosse and was the team photographer for the boys’ lax team during his final year at Wakefield.

It was a lot of hard work and dedication; two traits that will pay off sooner than later at a school with top resources like Penn State.

Lanzarone is already looking down the road to internship opportunities next summer when perhaps he can produce live broadcasts at a place like the Cape Cod Baseball League. But for now, his teachers and classmates at Wakefield can’t wait to see what “Lanzy” does next in the land where the Victory Bell tolls.

“I am thrilled to see what Mike works on at Penn State this fall,” said Constantine. “We love to hear from our alumni who are in the field and right off the bat, Mike is doing some amazing stuff.”