Dawndy Mercer Plank

Dawndy anchors WIS News 10′s afternoon and evening newscasts.

Dawndy is a frequent speaker at churches throughout the state and is an active member at Shandon Baptist Church. She is on the Oliver Gospel Mission’s Board of Directors. She’s a longtime participant of the Sister Study on Breast Cancer through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Dawndy is involved in numerous programs that promote healthy living, including serving on the committee for Heart & Sole, a women’s-only run and walk to prevent heart disease. She is a marathoner and triathlete, an advocate for plant-based nutrition, and is passionate about helping others lead healthy lives.

Dawndy's television career began in 1989 when she left her hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana to be a reporter at WBAY TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

In 1992, she came to South Carolina to co-anchor WIS News Sunrise and was later promoted to anchor the evening shows.

In 1996, Dawndy moved to Houston, Texas and starred in commercials, print ads, and industrial films. She spent time at Houston's KNWS News, KTRK TV, KSBJ Christian Radio, and hosted both a horse and travel show. Dawndy returned to WIS Television in 2001.

Dawndy’s awards include being named a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of South Carolina. The American College of Gastroenterology awarded her as a 2016 SCOPY Media Champion. In 2016, Dawndy was inducted into the Greenfield Central School Foundation Alumni Hall of Fame for her numerous achievements since high school. Dawndy was awarded Best TV Anchor for 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008 and 2003 by Columbia Metropolitan Magazine. The Free Times Newspaper awarded her Sexiest News Personality for 2011 and Best Anchor Personality for 2010, 2009, 2008, 2005, 2004, 1995 and 1994. Dawndy received the Verizon 2012 Hopeline Hero Award that benefited SisterCare, an organization that helps battered women and their children. She was a 2011 Palmetto Center for Women Tribute to Women in Industry nominee, an honor presented to women whose outstanding achievements mark them as leaders and role models in business and in the community.

She also landed a second-place award by the Associated Press in the Medical/Health category in 2009 for her coverage of how deaf children’s lives changed after cochlear implants.

In 2002, the South Carolina Governor's Council on Physical Fitness awarded her its Media Fitness Award.

Dawndy ran as a torchbearer for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. And she received a Southeast Regional Emmy Award for Best Newscast in 2003.

In 1994, she received the South Carolina Broadcaster's Association Personality of the Year Award, as well as the National Journalism Award for Best Television Coverage of Leukemia.

Dawndy Mercer Plank graduated with a BS in Telecommunications in 1989 from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, after finishing her schooling in Washington, D.C. through the Washington Center internship program.

She is married to Craig Plank and has three stepchildren.