As NBC17's Cary reporter, Chris Cowperthwaite focuses most of his time covering Cary and Western Wake County.

Chris joined NBC17 in June of 2007, after spending four years reporting for WTOC in Savannah, Georgia. He worked as the Hilton Head Island reporter for two years, before sliding into the lead night side reporter position. At WTOC, he covered the Verizon Heritage PGA tournament five years in a row, flew with the Blue Angels, and went to the Gulf Coast for coverage of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. While working in Savannah, Chris earned two Georgia AP awards, one in 2005 for Best Sportscast and another in 2006 for Best Sports Feature.

Prior to his arrival in the Coastal Empire, Chris was one of three reporters covering Ottumwa, Iowa, for KTVO, which is based in Kirksville, Missouri. He interviewed presidential candidates during the Iowa Caucus in 2000, and covered countless tornados tearing through the Hawkeye State. Chris earned Best Political Coverage from the Iowa Broadcast News Association in 2001.

Chris graduated from the University of Florida in 1999 with a degree in Telecommunications. Aside from watching the Gators win NCAA titles, he enjoys the beach, live music and pretending to train Griffin, his 8-year-old Golden Retriever mix.