Shelbyville senior Chris Morris has always been a University of Kentucky sports fan.   

So when Morris was presented with an opportunity to be actively involved in Wildcats sports coverage, he took action.

Morris continuously checks kentuckysportsradio.com, a website devoted to providing its readers with Kentucky football and basketball news, and recently discovered a competition offered by Kentucky Sports TV for a temporary news anchor position.

“I filmed an audition tape of myself and submitted it,” he said of the contest, named the KSTV Casting Call. “There were 400-500 tapes in general.”

Now Morris is one of five finalists for the KSTV position, which will last from three to four months. Voting is ongoing and runs through midnight Friday.

The winner will travel to Louisville every Friday to co-host the show for the entire 30-minute slot, and he or she will receive $75 for each episode.

Morris made it to the top 15 candidates through Facebook voting, and for his next video, he and the 14 other competitors were filmed for 12 minutes during an actual broadcast alongside Matt Jones, the man in charge of KSTV.

“We talked recruiting and the history of Kentucky basketball mainly,” Morris said.

Voters were so impressed by the WKU student that they moved him to one of the top five competitors.

For his last audition, Morris returned to KSTV to film an entire 30-minute segment with Jones.

The pair discussed Kentucky football, key players, basic recruiting and the upcoming basketball game between the University of Kentucky Legends — a game made up of former UK players —  and the Dominican Republic’s national team.

“He is clearly passionate about Kentucky,” Jones said of Morris. “And he knows the program’s history very well. If he has more time in front of the camera, I am sure he will continue to get better.”

But Morris’s background as a Hilltopper has some people giving him additional criticism since he attends WKU, not UK.

“I did this because I’m a true Kentucky fan,” Morris said. “So I’m trying to get on a Kentucky show. But this way, I can inform everyone on UK and Hilltopper news.”

Morris feels confident about his chances for winning because when he went for his second audition, the KSTV employees said he was ahead in the ballot.

“I made it this far out of 500 people,” he said. “That’s something to be proud of. It’s still good experience and it looks good on a resume, especially for a PR major.”

To vote for Morris, head to mycn2.com and click the “KSTV Vote Now” button on the right side of the screen.

Morris’ 12-minute video audition is also available for viewing on the site. He noted that people can only vote once on each computer, but they can also vote on their phones.