Geoff Preston joins the Red Oak Express as a sports reporter

Geoff Preston is a 23-year-old recent graduate from Michigan State University who is now working for the Red Oak Express. Originally from Ithaca, N.Y., Preston has interned with The Grand Rapids Press in Grand Rapids, Mich. and The Ann Arbor News in Ann Arbor, Mich. He has also worked for the Cornell University College Human Ecology in Ithaca and the website Spartan Nation in East Lansing, Mich.The realization was harsh for Preston when he was 11 and, after the worst season in Ithaca Little League Baseball history, it became clear that he would never be a professional baseball player. After that the dream was to become a sports writer. Preston is drawn to talking to people and trying to understand their story, and believes that newspapers are still the best way to tell original stories.Although the dream started in the rarely-read Tattler newspaper at Ithaca High School, Preston really got his start with journalism with his college newspaper.Preston worked for Michigan State’s college newspaper, The State News, for four semesters in college covering city government, local police, football and working as the sports editor during his senior year.During his time covering the Michigan State football team he was able to cover the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day in 2015, which is the biggest game he has covered so far in his young career.He said he is most looking forward to telling interesting stories of why high schoolers, area youth and adults love sports so much.Preston hopes during his time in Red Oak to learn about the community and the best way to find stories in high schools that paint the best pictures about sports.In his spare time, Preston enjoys reading books about sports, watching hours of Netflix about things other than sports, physical activity and talking to people about sports.Preston is looking forward to getting to know more about Red Oak, Montgomery County and all of southwest Iowa during his time here, so look for him at sporting events with a camera and be sure to say hello.Preston can be reached at gpreston@redoakexpress.com or by phone at 607-229-4664.