Chris McKendry

SportsCenter Anchor

Chris McKendry joined ESPN as a SportsCenter anchor in July 1996, shifting in November to ESPNEWS for the launch of the 24-hour sports news network. She returned to SportsCenter in December 1996, anchoring the weekend morning editions and Sunday Sportsweekly through September 2000 when she became primary anchor of the 6 p.m. SportsCenter. Since 2002 she has served as co-anchor of the weekend morning SportsCenters and contributed to the 6 p.m. weekday edition.

McKendry’s work outside of 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 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. Additionally, she was a columnist on ESPN.com’s “Page Two” In 2001 and 2002.

Prior to joining ESPN, McKendry had been at WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C., where she was a sports reporter, as well as the first woman to work as a television sports news anchor in the market (1994-96). In June 1996, she received a regional Sports Emmy in the Best Sports Segment Category for “NFL 101,” which illustrated how to watch football. While at WJLA-TV, McKendry also co-hosted Redskin Magazine, a one-hour, live pregame show. In 1996, she was sideline and feature reporter for TNT and TBS during the NBA Playoffs.

Previously, she worked as a sports anchor/reporter at All-News Channel/Conus in Minneapolis (1993-94), an update anchor for USA Network (1993-94) and Newsport (1994) and as a producer for Fox News Service in Washington, D.C. (1992-93).

Born in Philadelphia, McKendry was graduated from Drexel University in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in humanities. A dean’s list scholar for three years, McKendry attended Drexel on a tennis scholarship. She is married with two young sons.

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