Samantha Croston named new sports director at CNY Central

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CNY Central, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Central New York television stations WSTM NBC3, WTVH CB5, and CW6, today announced Samantha Croston has been named sports director. Croston, who joined the CNY Central News Team in 2021, replaces the recently departed Tommy Sladek in this role.

In Croston’s three years with CNY Central she has excelled in many areas of journalism and content creation. As a multimedia journalist and reporter, she gained experience reporting on community news, breaking news, and severe weather situations. As a news anchor, she has guided viewers through developing events during live newscasts and delivered impactful news broadcasts that highlight the depth of our news team’s investigative work. Now, in the role of sports director, Croston will fully commit her time to continuing the rich legacy of sports coverage from the CNY Central team.

“Samantha’s journalism skills are what set her apart from her peers in the sports reporting world,” said CNY Central News Director Sean Carroll. “She will now pair those skills with her deep understanding of sports, and perspective as a former NCAA athlete, to bring Central New Yorkers the analysis and understanding they expect from our team.”

Croston played goalie for Colgate University’s women’s lacrosse team before earning her master’s degree in broadcast and digital journalism at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. In her time with CNY Central, she has been part of the launch of the award-winning “The Orange Zone” podcast and YouTube channel, a consistent contributor to local high school sports coverage through NBC-3’s Friday Night Lights fall sports coverage and year-round Athlete of the Week segments. In May, Croston and weekend sports anchor Ashley Wenskoski launched the “Why Am I a Mets Fan?” podcast and YouTube channel; the latest multi-platform initiative to connect fans of Central New York sports teams anywhere in the world to the teams they love to follow.

“I’m thrilled to continue my career in a place I’ve called home these past three years,” Croston said. “Serving the passionate sports fans of this community and providing insight and analysis on our local high school and college teams is an exciting opportunity. I want my legacy to be that I inspired the next generation of women, and in this role, as CNY Central’s first female sports director, I hope to take the first step towards that. Along with my podcast co-host and Weekend Sports Anchor Ashley Wenskoski, as well as The Orange Zone regulars James Mungro (SU Football) and Lawrence Moten (SU Basketball), we will continue to grow our audience, and more importantly, use sports as a way to bring people together.”