General Michael Abdella, St. Olaf Assistant AD for Strategic Communications

St. Olaf's Hannah Robb honored as CSC Photographer of the Year

Portfolio selected as the best among NCAA Division II, Division III, NAIA, Canadian schools, two-year colleges, and high schools

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – St. Olaf College Athletics Creative and Digital Media Strategist Hannah Robb was honored as the College Sports Communicators (CSC) College Division Photographer of the Year at the annual CSC Convention earlier this week.

After being named one of four finalists for the award last month as part of the 2024 CSC Creative and Digital Design Contest, Robb was recognized as the winner of the photography portfolio contest for the College Division, which includes all NCAA Division II and III schools, as well as NAIA schools, Canadian institutions, two-year colleges, and high schools. She, along with the rest of the finalists who were in attendance, were honored during the Special Awards Luncheon at #CSCUnite24 on Wednesday at Mandalay Bay Resort.

"I am grateful for this recognition and the ability to represent St. Olaf at the national level," Robb said. "Behind every photo I take is a coach who has invited me into their team and culture, administration who support my ideas, and kind Ole student-athletes I feel lucky to get to know. It is a joy to witness and document their collegiate journeys!"

Robb recently completed her third year of full-time work in the athletic department at St. Olaf and is primarily responsible for generating content for the St. Olaf Athletics social media channels (@StOlafAthletics) and athletics website. She also supervises a staff of student workers and videographers and serves as the department's primary graphic designer. Robb moved into the newly-formed athletics creative and digital media strategist role prior to the start of the 2023-24 academic year after spending the previous two years as the creative and digital media manager.

"I am so happy for Hannah, who could not be more deserving of this recognition," said Assistant Athletic Director for Strategic Communications Michael Abdella. "To be recognized as the best in the country at what she does is an incredible honor and we are all so proud of Hannah. All of us at St. Olaf have seen the quality of her work for years and this award is further testament to not only her ability as a photographer, but also her desire and ability to continuously hone her craft."

Before coming to St. Olaf, Robb was a standout volleyball student-athlete at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls before graduating in December 2020 with a bachelor of science in stage and screen arts/communication studies. She played four years of volleyball for the Falcons and was a CSC Second Team Academic All-America ® honoree in 2019. Robb was also a three-time Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) All-Defensive Team honoree and two-time All-WIAC selection, finishing her career with a school-record 2,467 digs, 342 assists, and 165 aces in 136 matches. She still owns the top-three single-season dig totals in program history and ranks seventh all-time in aces at UW-River Falls.

During her time as a student-athlete, Robb worked in athletic media operations at UW-River Falls, generating multimedia materials to promote the department's teams and student-athletes, including graphics, recruiting posters, and social media content. She also conceptualized, shot, and edited a variety of videos for the department and was highly-involved with UWRF's live-streaming efforts. After graduation, Robb was the director of photographer and editor for The Remember Project.