After being captain of the Monroe High School soccer team and helping set the school record in the 4x800 meter dash, Lindsay Stone knew she wanted to go to college and become an attorney.
But once at Ohio State University, her plans changed when she saw an advertisement for the Buckeyes hockey team.
"Growing up, I dreamed of becoming a human rights attorney," says Stone, a 2014 Monroe alum who joins WLWT-TV as a weekend anchor and reporter March 29 from WTTV-TV in Indianapolis. "That was until I saw a campus flyer recruiting students to shoot men's ice hockey. I had never picked up a camera, but decided to try it. As a former athlete, I was thrilled by the idea of getting paid to do something I loved — watch sports."
Stone started playing soccer at age 3, and fell in love with it. She traveled around the country playing for NWC Alliance, FOSC and Cincinnati United before playing four years of varsity high school soccer, three as captain.
After a year at OSU, Stone transferred to Indiana's Anderson University, about half way between Indianapolis and Muncie, where her brother, parents, grandparents and great-grandparents attended. She created a student-run sports broadcasting channel at Anderson — which has expanded into a news channel.
"I had a spontaneous idea to launch … 'Raven Watch.' It started out as just me going to all of the home games on campus to shoot highlights. Thanks to so many wonderful and talented people, it grew to a team of 50 staff members, has since won dozens of national awards and expanded to a news channel. It's now required for journalism students to spend two semesters working on the show before they can graduate," says Stone, who earned dual bachelor’s degrees in broadcast journalism and international relations.
In the summers, she interned in the Reds fan relations department (2016) and in the WXIX-TV sports department with Joe Danneman and Jeremy Rauch.
"I trusted my gut and wasn't afraid to forge my own path. I am so thankful I did — it's led me to WLWT," she says.
She replaces weekend co-anchor Mollie Lair, who left in August after five years to become communications director for the Cincinnati city manager's office. Tiffany Wilson, a former WKRC-TV morning anchor and reporter (2010-2014),will anchor WLWT-TV's weekend evening news this month until Stone arrives.
Stone's first job after graduation in 2018 was at WNDU-TV in South Bend, where she was an evening anchor and sidelines reporter for the Notre Dame Countdown to Kickoff football show for three years.
"I would conduct live reports from the sidelines, operate the camera in the end zone during the game and produce our live broadcast from the head coach's post-game press conference. As a passionate college football fan, it was the opportunity of a lifetime to cover a sport I loved in such a historic stadium," she says.
For WNDU-TV, she also reported on a variety of topics from business, technology and medicine to former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s run for president.
"Lindsay is a skilled storyteller who knows how to cover live breaking news," said WLWT-TV News Director Jeff Benscoter in the station announcement. "She is also extremely versatile, not only in news coverage, but in sports reporting, which will be valuable during the next Bengals Super Bowl run."
The WLWT-TV announcement says she will co-anchor weekends with Courtis Fuller, who has been on extended medical leavesince December for an undisclosed ailment. Fuller's return date is to be determined, "but everyone at WLWT is looking forward to seeing him back on WLWT News 5 as soon as possible," says Pete Salkowski, creative services director.
Stone is looking forward to working with Fuller, a 30-year broadcasting veteran. "I am thrilled to be joining the anchor desk alongside him. Courtis has a deep love for our community and his reporting is second to none," she says.
"It might sound like a cliché, but this truly is the opportunity of a lifetime," she says. "I’m thrilled to be working with such an outstanding group of journalists and cover a community that means so much to me."
Her last day at the Indianapolis station is March 14. She starts to WLWT-TV on Wednesday March 29, the day before Opening Day.
"I have been to the Opening Day game several times, but not the parade. I am excited for my first day and whatever the station will have me covering," she says.
