Natalie Kalibat Explained

Natalie Kalibat is an American sportscaster, journalist and television personality who is currently doing live sports broadcasts as a play-by-play announcer, color analyst, and reporter for ESPN and other sports networks. She is the host of the "Diving in Deep" podcast.

Natalie Kalibat
Birth Place:Princeton, New Jersey
Occupation:Sportscaster, journalist
Years Active:2016-present
Spouse:Rich Witten

Early life

Kalibat grew up in Princeton, New Jersey.[1]

Kalibat won the 2012 United States Olympic Trials for diving in the Synchronized Women 10m Platform event[2] and won 1-meter, 3-meter and platform AAU titles in 2012.[3] She qualified for Olympic trials while a senior in high school.[4]

Diving and college

She was a diver at the University of Southern California and was part of the 2016 Pac-12 championship team, the first in program history.[5] She graduated from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.[6]

While at USC, Kalibat interned for ESPN, Pac-12 Networks and KNBC.[7]

Career

She was hired as the weekend sports anchor at WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, West Virginia in July 2016[8] before moving to WRIC-TV in December 2017.[9] Kalibat covered the Washington Football Team during their training camp in Richmond.[10] She also covered the NASCAR Cup Series at Richmond Raceway.[11] [12]

She has worked as a diving analyst for Big Ten Network at the 2018 championships[13] and Big 12 Now covering the Big 12 diving championships in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 on ESPN+.[14]

She was the diving analyst and reporter for the 2024 American Athletic Conference championships.[15] and the diving analyst for the 2024 Sun Belt Conference championships.,[16] with both airing on ESPN+.

She is also a color analyst for FIU Panthers football radio broadcasts [17] and FAU Owls basketball,[18] softball [19] and volleyball [20] broadcasts.

She was the play-by-play broadcaster for the 2022 Northeast Conference women's lacrosse championships.[21] Kalibat served as the sideline reporter for the 2022 Ivy League women's lacrosse championships[22] and the 2022 NCAA women's lacrosse tournament games held at Princeton.[23]

She also currently calls swimming and diving for ACC Network Extra starting in 2019,[24] [25] [26] the Ivy League on ESPN [27] and FloSwimming [28] and swimming & diving and women's lacrosse for the Atlantic 10 on ESPN.[29]

She broadcast women's basketball, softball and women's lacrosse for the Big South on ESPN [30] and is a hockey analyst for the Ivy League on ESPN,[31] a basketball sideline reporter for Conference USA on ESPN+ [32] and NXT Level Sports [33] and a lacrosse and softball analyst for the American Athletic Conference on ESPN+.[34]

Family

Her mother Rebecca,[35] sister Kristiana [36] and brother Peter [37] were all college swimmers, with Rebecca competing at University of Mary Washington, Kristiana at Wagner College and Peter at Georgetown University. Natalie got engaged[38] to then-VCU assistant baseball coach Rich Witten[39] in 2019. The two were married at Saint Paul's Catholic Church in Princeton on December 18, 2021. The reception was held at Jasna Polana.[40]

Rich Witten is now the head baseball coach at Florida International University.[41]

Notes and References

  1. News: Franklin. Paul. October 15, 2016. Princeton native dives into on-air sports reporting career. The Times. Advance Publications. December 14, 2018.
  2. Web site: US Olympic Diving Trials Results 2012: Top Qualifiers, Updates and Highlights. Ian. Hanford. November 27, 2018.
  3. Web site: 2012 AAU Diving National Championship Results July 25–30, 2012 Huntersville, North Carolina. aausports.org. July 2012. December 16, 2018.
  4. Web site: Franklin. Paul. January 9, 2012. Princeton diver flourishes with no diving team. The Times. Advance Publications. December 16, 2018.
  5. Web site: No. 4 USC Wins First-Ever Pac-12 Title! – University of Southern California Official Athletic Site. November 21, 2018.
  6. Web site: Natalie Kalibat – USC Annenberg Media Alumni. alumni.uscannenbergmedia.com. November 27, 2018.
  7. Web site: Natalie Kalibat. https://web.archive.org/web/20211113183401/https://www.wric.com/author/natalie-kalibat/ . 2021-11-13 . WRIC. July 19, 2022.
  8. Web site: Bio Page. WBOY. November 21, 2018.
  9. Web site: Starting the New Year with a New Job. FTV Live. August 10, 2020.
  10. Web site: Natalie Kalibat sits down with Redskins Quarterback Kevin Hogan. WRIC. November 21, 2018. August 3, 2018.
  11. Web site: Richmond Raceway President, Bickmeier chats with 8Sports. WRIC. November 27, 2018. April 18, 2018.
  12. Web site: Truex Jr. looking to extend his lead in the standings at Richmond: 'Everything is on the line' .
  13. Web site: BTN2Go >2018 B1G Women's Swimming & Diving Championships. November 21, 2018.
  14. Web site: No. 1 Men’s Swimming and Diving preview: Big 12 Championships. March 3, 2022.
  15. Web site: FIU coach Randy Horne reacts to 1st AAC championship. March 21, 2024.
  16. Web site: Sun Belt Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships Set to Begin Wednesday in Orlando. March 21, 2024.
  17. Web site: FIU Panthers vs. North Texas Mean Green: How To Watch and Preview. September 12, 2023.
  18. Web site: FAU Owls vs. Stetson Hatters Tweet. November 21, 2023.
  19. Web site: Pirates Set For Road Series At No. 25 Florida Atlantic. April 6, 2024.
  20. Web site: FAU Owls vs. UTSA Roadrunners Tweet. November 21, 2023.
  21. Web site:
    1. NECWLAX Semi Recaps: Bryant Rolls & Mount Hangs On To Set Up Saturday Showdown For NEC Title
    . May 9, 2022.
  22. Web site: Twitter>Princeton Women's Lax. May 9, 2022.
  23. Web site: Twitter>Syracuse Women's Lacrosse. May 16, 2022.
  24. Web site: WatchESPN>Virginia Tech vs. Virginia (Swimming). January 14, 2019.
  25. Web site: NC State at Virginia Swimming & Diving on ACC Network Extra . WatchESPN . 8 February 2020.
  26. Web site: WatchESPN>NC State vs. Virginia (Swimming). February 20, 2022.
  27. Web site: Twitter>Natalie Kalibat. February 20, 2022.
  28. Web site: Twitter>Natalie Kalibat. February 20, 2022.
  29. Web site: WatchESPN>James Madison vs. Richmond. February 20, 2022.
  30. Web site: Twitter>Big South GameDay. February 20, 2022.
  31. Web site: Twitter>Princeton Hockey. February 20, 2022.
  32. Web site: Schedule>WatchESPN. March 3, 2023.
  33. Web site: Twitter>Natalie Kalibat. February 20, 2022.
  34. Web site: Pirates Host Winthrop & Presbyterian. February 20, 2022.
  35. Web site: Natalie Kalibat 8 News. wric.com. August 4, 2021.
  36. Web site: Kristiana Kalibat – Wagner Women's Swimming & Diving. wagnerathletics.com. August 4, 2021.
  37. Web site: Peter Kalibat – Georgetown Men's Swimming & Diving. guhoyas.com. August 4, 2021.
  38. Web site: Login • Instagram. 2021-07-04. www.instagram.com.
  39. Web site: Rich Witten - Assistant Coach & Recruiting Coordinator - Baseball Coaches. 2021-07-04. Virginia Commonwealth University. en.
  40. Web site: Login • Instagram. 2022-07-19. www.instagram.com.
  41. Web site: FIU Athletics Introduces Rich Witten as Head Baseball Coach. fiusports.com. July 19, 2022.