San Francisco – The top 10 winners in college sports writing were announced today in the 56th annual William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards Program, in which 108 undergraduate journalism programs at universities across the nation are eligible to participate. There were121 sports entries from 72 schools received in this competition.

First Place has been awarded to Cody Stavenhagen from Oklahoma State University. Cody will receive a $2,600 scholarship for his winning article titled “And Then There Was a Football Game” published in OColly.com. Oklahoma State University’s School of Media and Strategic Communications will receive a matching grant, as do the journalism departments of all scholarship winners. Cody also qualifies to participate in the Hearst National Writing Championship which will be held this June in San Francisco.

Other scholarship winners are:
John Stuetz, Pennsylvania State University, second place, $2,000 scholarship
Brady Vardeman, University of Oklahoma, third place, $1,500 scholarship
Garrett Ross, Pennsylvania State University, fourth place, $1,000 scholarship
Justin Wise, University of Oregon, fifth place, $1,000 scholarship

The sixth through tenth place winners receiving certificates of merit are:
Zoe Schaver, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, sixth place
Peregrine Frissell, University of Montana, seventh place
Grace Palmieri, Indiana University, eighth place
Richie Mulhall, Kent State University, ninth place
Alden Woods, Indiana University, tenth place

Indiana University placed first in the Intercollegiate Writing Competition with the highest accumulated points from the three writing competitions held thus far. They are followed by: Pennsylvania State University; Oklahoma State University; Northwestern University; University of Missouri; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; University of Oregon; University of Iowa; Kent State University; Arizona State University.

Judging the writing competitions this year are: Nicole Carroll, Vice President/News and Editor, The Arizona Republic; Mike Leary, Senior Vice President and Editor, San Antonio Express-News; and David Zeeck, President and Publisher, The News Tribune.

The Hearst Journalism Awards Program is conducted under the auspices of accredited schools of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication and fully funded and administered by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. The 14 monthly competitions consist of five writing, two photojournalism, one radio, two TV and four multimedia, with Championship finals in all divisions. The program awards up to $500,000 in scholarships and grants annually.