Joel Coleman, a senior writer at Mississippi State University, was awarded four honors at the district level of the Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest held by College Sports Communicators.
“The Path to the Dance,” which was Coleman’s recap of the 2022-23 men’s basketball season that led to a return to March Madness, was the district winner for Season Preview or Recap. Coleman’s recap will now advance to the national competition, which will be assessed later this month.
In the competition that takes place in District 6, Mississippi State University competes against the states of Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. All contributions were required to have been published no later than the calendar year 2023, and each participant was only allowed to submit one item for each category. Over three hundred and fifty entries were submitted for the 2023-24 competition. The district level is the first stage of evaluation for each category, and the champions of each category are then considered for national consideration.
“Maroon, White, Left And Right,” which featured switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje, was a co-runner up in the Athlete Profile category. In the meantime, “Yabba Dabba Dawgs,” which dissects the popular phrase that the women’s basketball team has been using this year, and “How The West Was Won,” which revisits the football team that won the SEC West division in 1998, were the runners-up in the General Feature and Historical Feature categories, respectively.
Over the course of his three years as a member of the Bulldogs coaching staff, Coleman has been awarded many Fred Stabley Sr. accolades. He has also won a total of six district championships and seven district runner-up tournaments. Over the course of his career, he has won district championships in five out of the seven categories that are available.
The article that Coleman wrote in 2023 about the pioneering legacy of Frank Dowsing Jr. and Robert Bell triumphed in the district competition for the Social Justice/Diversity and Inclusion category and earned the district title. Furthermore, in November, he was selected as a finalist for the Mississippi Sportswriter of the Year award that was presented by the National Sports Media Association. In the year 2022, he was awarded district victories in the categories of Coach Profile, General Feature, Season Preview or Recap, and for Event Coverage. Additionally, he was awarded a national title in that same year for his story that earned the General Feature award and was about State’s first national championship in baseball.
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