Daniel Patrick "Dan" Hicken is currently the sports director and weeknight sports anchor for First Coast News on television stations WTLV

WTLV

WTLV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Jacksonville, Florida. The station broadcasts a digital signal on VHF channel 13. The station is owned by Gannett as part of a duopoly with the area's ABC affiliate, WJXX. The two stations share studios located on East Adams Street in downtown near...

/WJXX

WJXX

WJXX is the ABC-affiliated television station television for Jacksonville, Florida. The station broadcasts a digital signal on VHF channel 10, identifying via PSIP as virtual channel 25 . The station is owned by Gannett as part of a duopoly with the area's NBC affiliate, WTLV...

 in Jacksonville

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

. Hicken presents the sports segments on First Coast News, weeknights at 6:00pm, 7:00pm and 11:00pm and Sports Final at 11:35 on Sunday nights.
He also hosts Sports Final Radio between 6am and 10am on WJXL

WJXL

WJXL 1010 AM, known on-air as 1010 XL, is a sports radio station licensed to Jacksonville Beach, Florida, owned and operated by Seven Bridges Radio, under its president Steve Griffin. Griffin also serves as General Manager of the station....

.

Career

Hicken graduated from the University of Florida

University of Florida

The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...

. His first job in television was an internship with 12 News on WTLV-TV in Jacksonville immediately after college graduation. He rose steadily at the station, becoming a sports producer in 1986, weekend sports anchor two years later, then sports director in 1991 after six years at WTLV. Hicken personally reports on big local events, such as The Players Championship

The Players Championship

The Players Championship is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour.Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, the inaugural event in 1974 was played at Atlanta Country Club in Marietta, Georgia before moving to the Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas in 1975 and Inverrary...

, Jacksonville Jaguars

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 games and the Daytona 500

Daytona 500

The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....

. He also travels to national events with a Florida connection.

Family

On March 16, 2003, Dan wed Reagan Dowling, a special education teacher in Jacksonville.
He has 3 children: Danielle & Drew with his previous wife, Donna Deegan

Donna Deegan

Donna Deegan is currently an author, breast cancer awareness advocate, and weekday television anchor, alongside Jeff Marcu and Shannon Ogden, on First Coast News at WTLV/WJXX in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Deegan co-anchors the weeknight 5:30 and 11 p.m...

; and Brooks Dowling, Dan & Reagan’s first child, born January 20, 2005.

Community involvement

His community affiliations include the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation

Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation

The Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation, also known simply as the Jay Fund, is a 501 non-profit organization established in 1996 and devoted to assisting "children with leukemia and other cancers and their families by providing emotional and financial support to help reduce the stress associated with...

 which provides money to help the families of children with leukemia; MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation

MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation

The MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation is a United States foundation created in 1994 by former professional tennis player MaliVai Washington to model achievement and life skills to children through playing tennis...

 which promotes academic achievement and positive life skills for youth through the game of tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

. Dan also participates in or MC's

Master of Ceremonies

A Master of Ceremonies , or compere, is the host of a staged event or similar performance.An MC usually presents performers, speaks to the audience, and generally keeps the event moving....

 numerous benefit golf tournaments and charity events each year.

Awards

Dan was recognized for his sports knowledge and reputation by being selected as a voting sports journalist for the Heisman Trophy

Heisman Trophy

The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...

. He won a regional Emmy for his series on Jacksonville's quest for an NFL team, and an award for the best sportscast in the state in 1992.

2008 Best Sportscast 1st place WTLV/WJXX "Sports Final"
2006 Sunshine State Awards, 3rd place Sports Feature/Commentary – Television: Desire Street. He has also been honored by Folio Weekly

Folio Weekly

Folio Weekly is an alternative weekly newspaper containing articles about people, issues, and events in northeast Florida. Its writers include Anne Schindler, Dan Brown, Susan Clark Armstrong, Hal Crowther, Susan Cooper Eastman, Anthony Gancarski, and Shelton Hull...

as Jacksonville's Best Sportscaster.