WKYC’s Kris Pickel is off to Phoenix; Sara Shookman to Take Over Anchor Duties

The PD’s TV writer Mark Dawidziak has reported that WKYC’s Sara Shookman will be the new co-anchor for the 6 and 11 p.m. Channel 3 broadcasts, alongside Russ Mitchell.

Shookman will replace Kris Pickel, who’s taking a lead-anchor gig at the CBS affiliate in Phoenix. 

Shookman’s been doing some anchoring this summer after Pickel announced her impending departure, and evidently the leadership on Lakeside has dug the chemistry between Shookman, (billed as a “journalist of the future”) and Mitchell, who arrived in Cleveland in 2012 and has been a favorite ever since.  

Shookman’s an Akron native and an OU grad — summa cum laude — and is known in local media circles for being the only reporter from these parts who traveled to Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 Olympic games. 

She’s happiest, according to her Twitter profile, “with local food, on the water or in downward dog.” 

Her first day in the anchor chair will be today, Tuesday, Sep. 22. 

This article appears in Sep 16-22, 2015.