Kate Daugherty joined the Tornado staff in July of 2024 as the Assistant Director of Athletic Communications after a year as the Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant at the University of Akron. With the Zips, she was the primary contact for the volleyball, women’s swimming & diving, and softball teams, including the swim program's 10th conference title in 11 years.
She has held a variety of other roles within the sports industry and brings a multitude of experience in a number of areas to King University. From 2013 until 2023 she was the On-Site Producer/Engineer and Spotter for local radio broadcasts of both high school and college athletics through the ACP Productions Radio Network and aired on a Salem Media Group station in the Cleveland, Ohio area. In 2024, she transitioned to the Social Media Coordinator for the company.
Daugherty was an Editor with the Ohio based media company, Kee On Sports, assisting in the editing and publishing of the company’s written coverage of Northeast Ohio high school football and basketball games.
She spent five years at the Pro Football Hall of Fame as an Operations Assistant helping with the planning, execution, and post-event wrap up for the annual Enshrinement Weekend, Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic game, and the OHSAA Football Championships.
Daugherty was an Assistant Equipment Manager for the USFL’s Pittsburgh Maulers during their 2023 spring football season and the Maulers’ appearance in the USFL Championship Game.
During her undergraduate studies at Malone University, she served as the Sports Information Intern from December of 2020 until May of 2023. While she assisted in covering Malone’s 17 varsity sports, Daugherty was the primary contact for women’s basketball and softball. She also served as the Malone women’s basketball team manager for four seasons, including the Pioneers' at-large bid to the 2023 NCAA Division II National Championship tournament.
An Ohio native, she earned her bachelors in Sport Management and Business Administration from Malone in 2023. In April of her senior year, she completed her undergraduate honors thesis examining the community impact and personal legacies of one of the top-10 high school rivalries in the United States - St. Edward vs Saint Ignatius (in the Cleveland area). The project included over a year of independent research, interviews with current and former players, media members, and alumni - it is published on the OhioLINK Electronic Theses & Dissertations Center.
Daugherty is currently finishing her Masters of Sport Science/Coaching with a concentration in Sport Administration through the University of Akron.
