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• Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest

National and District Winners Announced for the 2017-18 CoSIDA Stabley Writing Contest

by Wade Steinlage, William Penn Director of Athletic Communications

Hundreds of top-notch entries were submitted for this year’s edition of the CoSIDA Fred Stabley, Sr. Writing Contest, but in the end it was the “Year of David Kiefer.”

Kiefer, a member of the Stanford University athletic communications staff, claimed numerous national categories, including penning the National Story of the Year to highlight the winners of the 2017-18 CoSIDA Stabley Writing contest.

The 2017-18 contest drew 383 total entries with the Athlete Profile category leading the way with 87 stories. Submissions were first judged at the district level with district winners advancing to a national committee.

Kiefer, an assistant director of communications for Stanford Athletics, took the highest award with his entry entitled: “A Reason to Smile.” The story was entered in the Athlete Profile category.

“A Reason to Smile eloquently captured the struggle, fortitude, and courage of Stanford swimmer, Nicole Stafford,” one national judge said. “Kiefer’s story contained the same style and grace displayed by Nicole and brought attention to her condition while also offering an insight into Nicole's determination to not let this puzzling medical condition keep her from living her dream as a world-class collegiate swimmer.”

Read David Kiefer’s national-winning entry: http://stanford_ftp.sidearmsports.com/Feature/AReasonToSmile/

Six other awards were claimed at the national level as well. Kiefer was the top writer in three other categories, including Coach/Administrator Profile & Historical Feature, General Feature, and Blog.

His win in the Coach/Administrator Profile & Historical Feature category was titled “Morrison Warren: My American Story.”

Read David Kiefer’s Coach/Administrator Profile & Historical Feature entry: http://stanford_ftp.sidearmsports.com/MyStory/MorrisonWarren/

His entry in the General Feature category came by the name of “A Good, Good Man.”

Read David Kiefer’s General Feature entry: http://stanford_ftp.sidearmsports.com/Feature/Reuland/

Finally, Kiefer’s victory in the Blog category was named “The Magic of Tyrone L. McGraw.”

Read David Kiefer’s Blog entry: http://www.gostanford.com/news/2017/6/21/track-field-the-magic-of-tyrone-mcgraw.aspx?path=track

BJ Pickard of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference prevailed in the Event Coverage category with “Record Crowd Set to Seek the Holy Grail”.

Read BJ Pickard’s Event Coverage entry: https://www.miacathletics.com/sports/fball/2017-18/releases/20170922nme9rg

Chelsey Kraft of the University of Oklahoma topped the Story With Video category with “Sooner Leo: From Inspiration to Art”.

Read Chelsey Kraft’s Story With Video entry: http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=750311&SPID=127243&DB_OEM_ID=31000&ATCLID=211382289

Lastly, “Season Review: MSUB Baseball” by Evan O’Kelly of Montana State University Billings was first in the Season Preview/Recap category.

Read Evan O’Kelly’s Season Preview/Recap entry: https://msubsports.com/news/2017/5/30/season-review-msub-baseball.aspx?path=baseball

When contacted about his winning entries, Kiefer commented that “I’m honored to receive these awards, not only for myself, but for those in the industry who value quality writing.

“There is a tendency to overlook the written word as we shift toward greater efforts in social media and graphics, and face a media that no longer has the resources to cover our programs as it once did. To me, this means we have an even greater responsibility to tell our stories, because we can’t count on others to do the same,” Kiefer noted. “With each story that we intelligently tell with impact, we increase our level of trust among our athletes and coaches, and with our fans and the public.

Thank you to CoSIDA for valuing writing and sponsoring the Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest, thank you to all the judges who spent so many hours reading the stories, and thank you to all the writers who took part and continue to produce amazing work all around the country.”

The 2019 contest will include entries written from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2018. Just a reminder: Association members are only allowed to submit one (1) entry per category and each entry can only be used in one (1) category. So please, submit ONLY your BEST!

2018 Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest Results – National Winners

Story of the Year (Athlete Profile)
David Kiefer (Stanford University), District 8, “A Reason to Smile”

Blog
David Kiefer (Stanford University), District 8, “The Magic of Tyrone L. McGraw”

Coach/Administrator Profile & Historical Feature
David Kiefer (Stanford University), District 8, “Morrison Warren: My American Story”

Event Coverage
BJ Pickard (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference), District 5, “Record Crowd Set to Seek the Holy Grail”

General Feature
David Kiefer (Stanford University), District 8, “A Good, Good Man”

Season Preview/Recap
Evan O’Kelly (Montana State University Billings), District 7, “Season Review: MSUB Baseball”

Story With Video
Chelsey Kraft (University of Oklahoma), District 6, “Sooner Leos: From Inspiration to Art”

2018 Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest Results – District Winners

District 1

District 2

District 3

District 4

District 5

District 6

District 7

District 8

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