Natalie Kalibat is an American sportscaster, journalist and television personality who is currently doing live sports broadcasts as a play-by-play announcer, color analyst, and reporter for ESPN and other sports networks. She is the host of the "Diving in Deep" podcast.

Natalie Kalibat
Kalibat in 2021
Born
Alma materUniversity of Southern California
Occupation(s)Sportscaster, journalist
Years active2016-present
SpouseRich Witten
Websitenataliekalibat.com

Early life

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Kalibat grew up in Princeton, New Jersey.[1]

Kalibat won the 2012 United States Olympic Trials for diving in the Synchronized Women 10m Platform event[2] and won 1-meter, 3-meter and platform AAU titles in 2012.[3] She qualified for Olympic trials while a senior in high school.[4]

Diving and college

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She was a diver at the University of Southern California and was part of the 2016 Pac-12 championship team, the first in program history.[5] She graduated from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.[6]

While at USC, Kalibat interned for ESPN, Pac-12 Networks and KNBC.[7]

Career

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She was hired as the weekend sports anchor at WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, West Virginia in July 2016[8] before moving to WRIC-TV in December 2017.[9] Kalibat covered the Washington Football Team during their training camp in Richmond.[10] She also covered the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway.[11][12]

She has worked as a diving analyst for Big Ten Network at the 2018 championships[13] and Big 12 Now covering the Big 12 diving championships in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 on ESPN+.[14]

She was the diving analyst and reporter for the 2024 American Athletic Conference championships.[15] and the diving analyst for the 2024 Sun Belt Conference championships.,[16] with both airing on ESPN+.

She is a sideline reporter for ESPN's college football coverage.[17]

She is also a color analyst for FIU Panthers football radio broadcasts [18] and FAU Owls basketball,[19] softball [20] and volleyball [21] broadcasts.

She was the play-by-play broadcaster for the 2022 Northeast Conference women's lacrosse championships.[22] Kalibat served as the sideline reporter for the 2022 Ivy League women's lacrosse championships[23] and the 2022 NCAA women's lacrosse tournament games held at Princeton.[24]

She also currently calls swimming and diving for ACC Network Extra starting in 2019,[25][26][27] the Ivy League on ESPN [28] and FloSwimming [29] and swimming & diving and women's lacrosse for the Atlantic 10 on ESPN.[30]

She broadcast women's basketball, softball and women's lacrosse for the Big South on ESPN [31] and is a hockey analyst for the Ivy League on ESPN,[32] a basketball sideline reporter for Conference USA on ESPN+ [33] and NXT Level Sports [34] and a lacrosse and softball analyst for the American Athletic Conference on ESPN+.[35]

Family

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Her mother Rebecca,[36] sister Kristiana [37] and brother Peter [38] were all college swimmers, with Rebecca competing at University of Mary Washington, Kristiana at Wagner College and Peter at Georgetown University. Natalie got engaged[39] to then-VCU assistant baseball coach Rich Witten[40] in 2019. The two were married at Saint Paul's Catholic Church in Princeton on December 18, 2021. The reception was held at Jasna Polana.[41]

Rich Witten is now the head baseball coach at Florida International University.[42]

References

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  1. ^ Franklin, Paul (October 15, 2016). "Princeton native dives into on-air sports reporting career". The Times. Advance Publications. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  2. ^ Hanford, Ian. "US Olympic Diving Trials Results 2012: Top Qualifiers, Updates and Highlights". Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  3. ^ "2012 AAU Diving National Championship Results July 25–30, 2012 Huntersville, North Carolina" (PDF). aausports.org. July 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  4. ^ Franklin, Paul (January 9, 2012). "Princeton diver flourishes with no diving team". The Times. Advance Publications. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  5. ^ "No. 4 USC Wins First-Ever Pac-12 Title! – University of Southern California Official Athletic Site". Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  6. ^ "Natalie Kalibat – USC Annenberg Media Alumni". alumni.uscannenbergmedia.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  7. ^ "Natalie Kalibat". WRIC. Archived from the original on November 13, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  8. ^ "Bio Page". WBOY. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  9. ^ "Starting the New Year with a New Job". FTV Live. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  10. ^ "Natalie Kalibat sits down with Redskins Quarterback Kevin Hogan". WRIC. August 3, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  11. ^ "Richmond Raceway President, Bickmeier chats with 8Sports". WRIC. April 18, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  12. ^ "Truex Jr. looking to extend his lead in the standings at Richmond: 'Everything is on the line'".
  13. ^ "BTN2Go >2018 B1G Women's Swimming & Diving Championships". Retrieved November 21, 2018.
  14. ^ "No. 1 Men's Swimming and Diving preview: Big 12 Championships". Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  15. ^ "FIU coach Randy Horne reacts to 1st AAC championship". Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  16. ^ "Sun Belt Women's Swimming & Diving Championships Set to Begin Wednesday in Orlando". Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  17. ^ "All Eyes on Tuscaloosa as No. 2 Georgia Takes on No. 4 Alabama on ABC Saturday Night Football Presented by Capital One – Saturday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. ET". Retrieved October 3, 2024.
  18. ^ "FIU Panthers vs. North Texas Mean Green: How To Watch and Preview". Retrieved September 12, 2023.
  19. ^ "FAU Owls vs. Stetson Hatters Tweet". Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  20. ^ "Pirates Set For Road Series At No. 25 Florida Atlantic". Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  21. ^ "FAU Owls vs. UTSA Roadrunners Tweet". Retrieved November 21, 2023.
  22. ^ "#NECWLAX Semi Recaps: Bryant Rolls & Mount Hangs On To Set Up Saturday Showdown For NEC Title". Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  23. ^ "Twitter>Princeton Women's Lax". Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  24. ^ "Twitter>Syracuse Women's Lacrosse". Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  25. ^ "WatchESPN>Virginia Tech vs. Virginia (Swimming)". Retrieved January 14, 2019.
  26. ^ "NC State at Virginia Swimming & Diving on ACC Network Extra". WatchESPN. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  27. ^ "WatchESPN>NC State vs. Virginia (Swimming)". Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  28. ^ "Twitter>Natalie Kalibat". Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  29. ^ "Twitter>Natalie Kalibat". Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  30. ^ "WatchESPN>James Madison vs. Richmond". Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  31. ^ "Twitter>Big South GameDay". Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  32. ^ "Twitter>Princeton Hockey". Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  33. ^ "Schedule>WatchESPN". Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  34. ^ "Twitter>Natalie Kalibat". Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  35. ^ "Pirates Host Winthrop & Presbyterian". Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  36. ^ "Natalie Kalibat 8 News". wric.com. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  37. ^ "Kristiana Kalibat – Wagner Women's Swimming & Diving". wagnerathletics.com. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  38. ^ "Peter Kalibat – Georgetown Men's Swimming & Diving". guhoyas.com. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  39. ^ "Login • Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved July 4, 2021. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  40. ^ "Rich Witten - Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator - Baseball Coaches". Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved July 4, 2021.
  41. ^ "Login • Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  42. ^ "FIU Athletics Introduces Rich Witten as Head Baseball Coach". fiusports.com. Retrieved July 19, 2022.