Colt’s Neck, NJ --- Kenneth Weingartner has been named the manager of media relations for Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association.

Ken Weingartner

A resident of Yardville, N.J., Weingartner, 36, was the managing editor of the Messenger-Press, a weekly newspaper owned by the Princeton Packet, Inc. Since January 1999, he had written a weekly column for Princeton Packet publications which featured harness racing and equine activities in central New Jersey.

In August at the Meadowlands he received the 2002 Media Award from the New Jersey chapter of the U.S. Harness Writers’ Association. During his more than 10 years in journalism he has received more than two dozen awards, including two for his horse racing column and four for sports writing from the New Jersey Press Association.

He has been a contributor to Hoof Beats magazine, New York Mets Inside Pitch, Beckett's Future Stars magazine, and to the Associated Press.

He previously served as the public relations director for the Williamsport Bills, a minor leage baseball team, and was sports information director at his alma mater, Lycoming College, in Williamsport, Penn.