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Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest
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View a full listing of the district winners and runners-up.
This story is part of our June 2022 CoSIDA 360 package, to view more stories,
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National & District Winners Announced for the 2021-22 CoSIDA Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest
by Jeffrey Bernstein, NYU Sports Information Director, Chair, CoSIDA Fred Stabley Writing Contest Committee
Changes within the contest, within our profession and within society in general dominated the 2021-22 academic year. Nearly 400 submissions were made to CoSIDA’s Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest, and when the last sentence of the last article was judged, the University of Indianapolis’
Liz Wacienga’s brutally honest tale “
You Can’t Pour From an Empty Cup” edged Princeton University’s
Jerry Price’s “
Remembering John Schroeder 20 Years After 911” for National Story of the Year honors.
Wacienga’s article, which detailed her coping with the suicide of a close friend, won Co-National honors in the
General Feature/Blog category (along with Price’s submission of “
Goodbye Digger”), while Price’s National Runner-Up story of former Princeton lacrosse player John Schroeder, was tops nationally in the
Historical Feature Category.
“It was extremely difficult to write this,” Wacienga admitted. “I read it so many times before I submitted it. I didn’t want to leave out any details. It was an important story to share. I knew it would have an impact, but didn’t realize how large an impact it would have. To this day I still get messages from people who want to start conversations about mental health.”
Stanford University’s
David Kiefer, whose string of four consecutive National Story of the Year selections was snapped, still landed a top National honor in the
Social Justice/Diversity & Inclusion category with his submission of “
The First”.
Kiefer's previous four victories were “
Together While Apart” (’20-21), "
I am Jaimi" (’19-20), "
Jaylen Jasper: My Story of Appreciation" (’18-19), and "
A Reason to Smile" (’17-18).
Here are the National winners and runners-up:
Athlete Profile
WINNER: “
The Price She's Paid” by Joel Carlson, University of Montana
RUNNER-UP: "
Baseball Became a Therapy" by Sarah Kirkpatrick, College of the Holy Cross
Event Coverage
WINNER: “
OmaGoodness”
by Joel Coleman, Mississippi State University
RUNNER-UP: "
Shuffle Up and Deal" by Donny Nadeau, St. Mary's University of Minnesota
Coach/Administrator Profile
WINNER: “
Radar” by Brandon Collins, Texas A&M University
RUNNER-UP: "
There's More to Ted Alexander Than Just His Articulate and Passionate Voice" by Harry Minium, Old Dominion University
General Feature/Blog
CO-WINNER: "
You Can't Pour From an Empty Cup" by Liz Wacienga, University of Indianapolis (
NATIONAL STORY OF THE YEAR)
CO-WINNER: "
Goodbye Digger" by Jerry Price, Princeton University
Historical Feature
WINNER: "
Remembering John Schroeder, 20 Years After 9/11" by Jerry Price, Princeton University
RUNNER-UP: "
Alyssa Cavanaugh: You Were Made for Greatness" by Jessica Leifheit, Western Kentucky University
Season Recap/Preview
WINNER: “
A Scar was not What Tomasula-Martin Expected from an Ideal Setting” by Mike Brohard, Colorado State University
RUNNER-UP: "
Legacy and Opportunity: Miami's 'Super Seniors' Look to Make More History" by Tim Cary, Miami University
Social Justice/Diversity & Inclusion
WINNER: “
The First” by David Kiefer, Stanford University
RUNNER-UP: "
The Career for King 1,000 Point Scorer Trinity Lee is Just Taking Off" by Brian Hand, Conference Carolinas
Student Submissions
WINNER: “
Texas A&M's Path to Prominence Through Covid, SnowVID and Ever-Changing World” by Nick Whitley, Texas A&M University
RUNNER-UP: "
The 4,000 Mile Journey: Women's Basketball Teammates Who Were Once Former Competitors" by Nicholas Rappuhn, Northern Michigan University
Click here to view a full listing of the district winners and runners-up.
“We added a student category this year due to the importance of seeking out future professionals who we hope will make our organization bigger and better,” said NYU’s Jeffrey Bernstein, who is completing his final year as Committee Chairman. “The amount of quality submissions in all categories, which our hard-working committee members and judges spent a great deal of time reading through, just confirms that our organization consists of so many great writers and storytellers.”
A total of 387 entries were submitted in the ‘21-22 contest. Each category was first judged on the Regional level, with the winners then advancing to National consideration. All Regional winners and runner-ups will be receiving certificates. The National Story of the Year winner, as well as all category National winners, will be receiving plaques while National runner-ups will also receive certificates.
Here is the breakdown of submissions for the eight writing categories:
Athlete Profile – 77
Coach/Administrator Profile – 43
Event Coverage – 66
General Feature/Blog – 79
Historical Feature – 46
Season Recap/Preview – 47
Social Justice/Diversity & Inclusion – 24
Student Submissions – 5
Judging criteria was based on a point system utilized in these four areas:
Writing Style/Creativity (1-20 points)
Flow/Organization (1-15 points)
Opening/Closing (1-10 points)
Grammar/Punctuation (1-5 points)
A total of 16 Stabley Committee members as well as an additional 28 CoSIDA members served as Regional judges in the contest.
A five-member panel served as National judges.
Members of the 2021-22 Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest Committee were:
Jeffrey Bernstein* (Chairman, NYU); Mike Falk* (Co-Chair, Muhlenberg College); Barry Beal (The College of New Jersey); Joel Carlson (University of Montana);
Joe DiBari (Fordham University), Murray Evans (Oklahoma Christian University); Lance Franey* (University of Redlands); Joe Giustina* (Lycoming College); Emily Loux (Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference); Paul Marboe (Penn State University); Andrew Mindemann (Covenant College); Andrew Roberts (Southwestern Athletic Conference); Greg Royce (Goucher College); Steve Sheridan (Union College); Lenn Skoros (Hofstra University); Maura Vizza* (Moraine Valley Community College); Drew Wilson (Averett University).
*served as a National judge
**Former committee member Joshua Cornwall (Agnes Scott College) is serving as awards coordinator.
"So many dedicated athletic communications professionals were involved in this selection process making sure that we identified the very best of the best," Bernstein explained. "Their time, effort and dedication helped make the process run smoothly and insured that this outstanding annual contest continues to recognize and celebrate outstanding writers within CoSIDA."
Contributing as district judges were:
Debbie Copp – University of Oklahoma (retired)
Joshua Darling – Alabama University A&M
Dominique Del Prete – Union College
Matt Fenton - Messiah College
Jack Goodwillie – Whittier College
Christian Gravius – University of Richmond
Dan Griffin – Kent State University
Matt Hagy – Ursinus College
David Howell – Cabrini University
Matt Jackson – Penn State University
Travis Jarome – Alabama State University
Ronnie Johnson – Florida A&M University
John Kelly Jr. – Borough of Manhattan Community College
David Kiefer – Stanford University
Mike Kirk – University of Central Oklahoma (retired)
Marisa Lombardo – Alvernia University
Owen Lukens – Mansfield University
Nairem Moran – St. Mary’s College (MD)
Evan O’Kelly – Montana State University Billings
Ben Phlegar – Michigan State University
BJ Pickard – Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Sara Quinnell – Upper Midwest Athletic Conference
Mark Robertson - University of Lynchburg
Ari Ross – Hiram College
Kelly Sacco – Hofstra University
Joseph Swanson – Husson University
Brian Wolff – University at Buffalo
Jill Yamma – Penn State University Behrend
Click here to view a full listing of the district winners and runners-up.