Copley Township native Tracy McCool will become the new 5 and 10 p.m. weeknight co-anchor on WJW (Channel 8) as the new year begins.
She succeeds Stacey Bell, who left WJW to be closer to her husband, a former Browns assistant coach now working for the New York Jets.
McCool coincidentally had a celebration planned before she got the job.
When WJW general manager Greg Easterly told her she had the evening job effective Jan. 2, McCool mentioned a Disney trip. He thought she was making a joke about the “I’m going to Disney World” ads, she said. “I told him, ‘No, really. I’m going to Disney World.’ ”
McCool has been with WJW since 2000, when she joined it as a general-assignment reporter; she became a co-anchor of the station’s morning show in 2005. A morning replacement has not yet been named, although it is possible that Channel 8’s Kristi Capel will add that task to her duties.
The 2000 return and the events since have validated McCool’s decision to pursue an on-air career. The Copley High and Kent State University graduate first worked at WJW as an intern and a morning-show producer in the early ‘90s. She could have stayed as a producer but chose instead to pursue on-camera work. After stints at stations in Erie, Pa., and Columbus, she was hired back by WJW.
But a lot has changed since she returned. Married to trainer John Cook, owner of Evolve Performance Fitness in Medina, McCool now has a son, 4, and daughter, 5.
The early shift “was great when the kids were really little,” she said by telephone Tuesday. But as they have gotten older, McCool said it has been more difficult to be rested and ready to give them the attention they now need.
So when it was clear that Bell was leaving, McCool said she told Easterly that she was happy in the mornings but that she would like to be considered for Bell’s position. (She said she also asked WJW anchor Bill Martin for his blessing, and got it.)
Her hiring vindicates that long-ago career decision. “If I had to do it all over again, I would do it exactly the same way,” she said.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com and on Facebook and on Twitter. He also does a weekly video chat for Ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 or rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
