Jen Lada

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Jen Lada
File:Jen Lada 12 Degrees Aaron Rodgers.jpg
Lada broadcasting in 2021
Born
Jennifer Lada

(1981-01-14) January 14, 1981 (age 45)
Spring Grove, Illinois, U.S.
Alma materMarquette University
OccupationsSports reporter and anchor
Years active2003–present
Spouse
Dario Melendez
​
(m. 2017)​
Children3

Jennifer Lada (born January 14, 1981) is an American sportscaster for ESPN. She previously worked for networks in Milwaukee and Chicago.

Early life and education

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Lada grew up in the town of Spring Grove, Illinois, between Chicago and Milwaukee. She ran track at Marian Central Catholic High School.[1] She captained the cheerleading team while studying communication at Marquette University in Wisconsin, where she graduated in 2002.[1][2]

Career

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Lada began her broadcasting career after college as a sports reporter and anchor for the NBC affiliate station WREX in Rockford, Illinois.[3] A restaurant service job supplemented her income in Rockford.[1] She moved to the Fox affiliate WITI in Milwaukee in 2006.[3][4] She eventually felt "limited" in her role as a weekend sports anchor for WITI, and in early 2013 she moved to a larger media market by joining the NBC affiliate Comcast SportsNet Chicago (CSN).[4][5] At first hired to cover NHL hockey, she worked as a reporter and an anchor for CSN and sometimes appeared on its Kap & Haugh radio show.[5][6]

ESPN hired Lada in July 2015, originally to contribute to Colin Cowherd's ESPN Radio show, but Cowherd left the network before Lada would have begun in August 2015.[1][6] She briefly co-hosted a short-lived 8 p.m. ESPN Radio show, Jorge & Jen, with Jorge Sedano.[1][5] Lada recalled feeling "devastated" by her early experience at ESPN but managed to secure her role at the network by acting as a "utility player" who could contribute to a variety of shows.[1][7] Since 2016, she has served in long-term roles as a features reporter for College GameDay and a host for College Football Live.[3][8] She has continued to appear on or guest host other ESPN shows, including Get Up and SportsCenter.[9][10] A feature by Lada for E:60 about the death of college football quarterback Tyler Hilinski won a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Documentary in 2020.[2][11]

Lada has remained active in regional sports media in Wisconsin. In 2020, she began co-hosting, with Gabe Neitzel and Mark Chmura, a morning sports show for the ESPN radio affiliate WKTI in Milwaukee.[3][12] In 2022–23, she served as the host for a weekly WKTI radio show featuring Marquette men's basketball coach Shaka Smart.[13]

Personal life

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Lada married Dario Melendez, sports director at WISN-TV in Milwaukee, in 2017; a previous marriage ended in divorce. She has three children, two with Melendez. A recreational endurance athlete, she has run multiple marathons and triathlons.[1][8][14]

References

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