Kristella Cruz started as the athletics marketing and digital coordinator on Sept. 4, 2024 after serving as a part-time creative team member since Oct. 2019.
Cruz, a UTRGV graduate, has spent nearly five years working with the athletic department as a part-time creative team member. In this role, Cruz led the creative team on gameday, managed social media accounts, and coordinated and shot media days. She also captured, edited, and posted in-game and post-game content for most UTRGV programs.
Cruz has been awarded multiple awards and accolades with UTRGV Athletics including Gold from the American Advertising Awards in 2023 and 2024, and NCAA Baseball Photo of the Week in 2022.
During her time with UTRGV Athletics, Cruz co-founded Cookie Vault where she is responsible for managing the social media page, producing interactive stories to increase social engagement, and helped the company gain over 2,000 followers in under two years.
Cruz also worked as a freelance photographer for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) during the 2022 WAC Volleyball Tournament in Edinburg. In this role, she was responsible for photographing the conference tournament and ensured that all team photos were edited and uploaded at the end of each individual match.
In May 2020, Cruz graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from UTRGV.
