Craig Loper joined the WAVY Sports department in January 2021.
Born and raised in Eugene, Oregon, he graduated from the University of Oregon in June of 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. During his time in college, he interned at KOLD-TV in Tucson, Arizona as well as Fox Sports in Los Angeles. Through both of those opportunities, he had the chance to learn what it’s like to work in a sports office, write stories, edit video and publish content on various platforms.
After graduation, he worked for his hometown station in Eugene, KVAL, for almost two years covering Oregon and Oregon State athletics along with prep sports. His fondest memory of his time in Oregon is traveling with the Beaver football team for two seasons to various stadiums on the west coast covering games on Saturdays.
After his time at KVAL, he moved to Los Angeles where he turned his passion for health into a career, working full-time as a personal trainer and health coach in the city that spawned the healthy, active lifestyle movement.
An itch to get back into the broadcast business in September of 2016 brought him to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he worked at WAFB-TV for a little more than four years covering Southern University, LSU, the New Orleans Saints and prep sports. He maintains great memories from his time in the Pelican state where he was immersed in southern culture on a daily basis. His most memorable work trips at WAFB were working in Omaha, Nebraska for 13 days while covering the Tigers run to the College World Series final and working in Oregon for 12 days for the NCAA Baseball Corvallis Regional and the final NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.
Now at WAVY, Craig is looking forward to all things the Hampton Roads area has to offer in terms of sports and lifestyle. Day to day, you can find him at the gym in the mornings and out at sporting events in the evenings. His favorite part of his job is working on a new story every day, covering games and telling the stories of people in the community.
His passions include exercise, food prepping, movies, documentaries and enjoying time with friends while having a good meal out to eat. Craig’s mother, Tina, and his father, Craig, still live in Oregon. He also has two younger sisters, Kennah and Kailyn.
If you have story ideas, feel free to email Craig at Craig.Loper@wavy.com and be sure to say hi when you see him out and about!
