Chris McKendry (born Christine McKendry
February 18, 1968) is a
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
for
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
, a role she has served since 1996. She was co-anchor of the 11-1pm ET weekday block of live ESPN ''
SportsCenter'' shows, alongside
Jay Crawford
Jason "Jay" Crawford (born July 4, 1965) is an American TV news and sports anchor, who is best known nationally for his time at ESPN. Crawford anchored the live 11 p.m. edition of ''SportsCenter'' with Chris McKendry until April 2017. Prior to ...
. As of April 1, 2016, she serves as full-time on-site host for
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
coverage of the
Australian Open,
Wimbledon and
US Open.
Early life
McKendry grew up in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, area, and was a Division I scholarship tennis player at
Drexel University.
Career
Prior to joining ESPN, McKendry had been at
WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/ MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also s ...
,
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliate in
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
, where she was a sports reporter.
McKendry first anchored ''SportsCenter'' on July 27, 1996, shifting to
ESPNEWS
ESPNews (pronounced "ESPN News", stylized ESPNEWS) is an American multinational digital cable and satellite television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Disney Media Networks division of The Walt Disney Company (which owns ...
for the launch of the 24-hour sports news network. She returned to ''SportsCenter'' later that year, co-hosting the weekend morning and weekday 6 p.m. editions of the network’s flagship news and information program.
McKendry’s work beyond ''SportsCenter'' has included a variety of assignments, including late night host of ESPN’s Wimbledon coverage in 2007 and covering the U.S. Open for ''SportsCenter'' in 2002-06. She has also served as co-host of ESPN’s coverage of the Winter X Games late-night host for the X Games in 1997 and 1998, and contributed to ''
College Football Live
''College Football Live'' is a show that airs weekdays during the college football season on ESPN or ESPN2, and ESPNU. Its premiere was on Monday, July 23, 2007. Wendi Nix serves as the lead host, and it also features ESPN college football analyst ...
'' during the 2007 season. She was the sideline reporter for ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC Sports’ telecasts of the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and since 2002 has hosted the ESPN’s coverage of the
National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee (formerly the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and commonly called the National Spelling Bee) is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. The bee is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W. Sc ...
. McKendry also served as a columnist on ESPN.com’s “Page Two” In 2001 and 2002.
McKendry has the distinction as being the first woman to work as a television sports news anchor in the Washington D.C. market (1994–96).
In June 1996, she received a regional Sports Emmy in the Best Sports Segment Category for “NFL 101,” which illustrated for novice fans how to watch football. While at WJLA-TV, McKendry also co-hosted ''Redskin Magazine'', a 1-hour, live pregame show. In 1996, she was sideline and feature reporter for
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
and
TBS during the
NBA Playoffs.
She also served as a sports anchor/reporter at All-News Channel/Conus in Minneapolis (1993–1994), an update anchor for
USA Network
USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
(1993–1994) and Newsport (1994) and as a producer for Fox News Service in Washington D.C. (1992–1993).
McKendry co-anchored her final ''SportsCenter'' broadcast on March 31, 2016 and transitioned to cover tennis full-time for ESPN with the
Australian Open in January, and
U.S. Open in late summer.
Personal life
McKendry graduated from
Archbishop Ryan High School and later attended
Drexel University on a tennis scholarship.
From Somerton, Philadelphia, she is currently married and the mother of two sons.
Drexel Dragons - Drexel Tennis Alum Chris McKendry Anchored ESPNs Wimbledon Coverage
/ref>
References
External links
Chris McKendry article archive
Chris McKendry ESPN Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKendry, Chris
1968 births
Living people
American television sports anchors
Television personalities from Philadelphia
Drexel Dragons women's tennis players
Drexel University alumni
Tennis commentators
Television anchors from Washington, D.C.
Women sports announcers
Scripps National Spelling Bee
National Basketball Association broadcasters
American soccer commentators
American women columnists
Washington Redskins announcers
College football announcers
ESPN people