2025 Rotary Champions Ceremony

Jessica is the Sports Director at KKTV, a local CBS affiliate located here in Colorado Springs.

As a Colorado native, Jessica is proud to be a Thompson Valley High alum. She started off as a writer but fell in love with broadcast after joining CSU's television station where she anchored sports and traveled to cover CSU athletics. Jessica is an avid Broncos and Nuggets fan. 

Her internship in Denver solidified her passion for journalism and pushed her to pursue a career in reporting.

She started her professional career in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and after two years reporting on news and sports in the Chippewa Valley returns home to run the sports department at KKTV. During her first week at KKTV, Jessica had the chance to experience covering the Colorado Avalanche hoisting the Stanley Cup for the first time in more than 20 years!

Jessica loves following the professional teams out of Denver, but also loves covering local sports from the high school level to the RMAC.

Jesse Kurtz is a 25-year veteran sportscaster based in Colorado Springs. For the last 12 years he’s served as one of the radio broadcasters for Air Force Football. In addition to his role as “The Voice of the Falcons”, Kurtz is the lead anchor/host and Executive Producer of the Mountain West Network where he broadcasts college sports content all year long.

Prior to heading up the Mountain West Network, Kurtz spent more than 15 years as a television sports anchor/reporter, including ten years at the CBS affiliate (KKTV) in Colorado Springs. During that time, he also worked as a sideline reporter for nationally televised NFL games and college basketball contests. 

Widely respected by his peers, Kurtz has been recognized on a local, regional and national level with the following awards:

· Four-time Emmy Award Winner (2014, 2015, 2016, 2020)

· National Edward R. Murrow Award recipient for Sports Reporting (2010)

· Four-time National College Sports Video Award Winner (2022, 2023)

· Two-time National Telly Award Winner – Sports Feature Story Telling (2020, 2022)

· Seven-time regional, Edward R. Murrow Award recipient for Sports Reporting (2005,’07-’10, ’12-’13)

· Five-time Best Sportscaster the Colorado Broadcaster’s Association (2005-’06 ’08-’09, ’11)

· 17-time Associated Press Award winner (2004-11)

· Colorado High School Athletic Directors Association Media Person of the Year (2006, 2012)

· Society of Professional Journalists National Mark of Excellence for Sports Reporting (1999)

A native of Arvada, Colo., Kurtz graduated Cum Laude from Colorado State University with a double-major in Technical Journalism and Speech Communication.