MORROW, Ga. – For just the second time in program history, the Clayton State Sports Information office has been recognized for its writing by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) as part of the Fred Stabley, Sr. Writing Contest as announced on Tuesday, May 16.
 
Former women's soccer student-athlete Charlotte McCormack (Wexford, Ireland) and current Sports Information Director Joshua J. Darling were recognized for their work on a general feature piece titled "Former Clayton State Women's Soccer Player Jenny Dreasler Rises to Prominence as Illinois Anchorwoman" in District 3.
 
Originally released on December 8, 2016, McCormack did much of the leg work in early November, including contacting Dreasler, deciding the approach to take and assembling the release while Darling aided with proofing, editorial aspects and graphic design.
 
The only other time the Clayton State SID Office has won such an award came back in the NAIA era under Mike Mead. The Lakers former SID, and now longtime cross country and track & field coach, accomplished the feat in 1994. He took best release in the district for "Individual Event Preview: CSC vs. Southern Tech & GSW Preview".
 
Additionally, it is only the fourth Peach Belt Conference SID office to win a district award in the last 15 years (available records do not go past 2002-03). Most recently Brent Hager of USC Aiken won in 2015-16 in the category of Athlete and is the second person out of that office to do so. Former SID Brad Fields earned two honors (2004-05, 2006-07), both under the Coach/Administrator category.
 
Ken Gerlinger of the Peach Belt Conference league office won under Event Coverage in 2008-09 and Georgia College's Brad Muller did so in Athlete in 2003-04.
 
The Fred Stabley, Sr. Writing Contest is an annual event named for the longtime CoSIDA member and organization's second president (1958-59). It is also the only contest sponsored by the organization that pits all levels against each other on equal footing as members from NCAA Division I through the NAIA ranks compete in seven different categories.
 
Those categories include Event Coverage, General Feature, Coach/Administrator Profile & Historical Feature, Athlete Profile, Blog, Season Preview/Recap and Story With Video. Each SID is allowed only one submission per category with the exception of sponsoring the work of a non-CoSIDA member housed in their office.
 
This year, all entries must be from between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016 to be eligible and are judged by District Coordinators on the four areas of Flow/Organization, Grammar/Punctuation, Interesting/Original, and Focus/Clarity of Subject.
 
Additionally, out of the 59 selected pieces, Clayton State's award winning feature was among just 11 winners from the Division II ranks and one of only two from District 3. It is also just one of two from that level in that particular category.
 
The other fellow Division II SID offices that produced winners were Ashland, Carson-Newman (two), Harding, the Mountain East Conference, Montana State – Billings (two), Shippensburg, Virginia Wesleyan and Western State.
 
Each District winning piece now advances to the national ballot where overall winners will be announced for each category. For Clayton State's piece, that means going up against district winners from Michigan, Oklahoma, Iowa State, San Francisco, the NCAA, the ECAC and Division II Shippensburg. Those awards will be announced on Monday, June 5 on www.CoSIDA.com.
 
"We take great pride in producing a quality product and, while I'm very pleased to have our piece recognized among so many other deserving submissions, I'm most happy for Char to receive this recognition" said Joshua J. Darling, Sports Information Director. "I've had the distinct privilege of working with her since I got here towards the end of 2014 and her work has always been exemplary. It's nice to see that recognized on a national level."
 
About CoSIDA
The College Sports Information Directors of America was founded in 1957 and is a 3,000-plus member national organization comprised of the sports public relations, media relations and communications/information professionals throughout all levels of collegiate athletics in the United States and Canada. The 2016-17 academic year marks the 60^th year of the organization, making it the second oldest management association in all of intercollegiate athletics.
 
CoSIDA became an affiliated partner with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) in December of 2008 and has enjoyed record membership numbers over the last eight years, surpassing the 3,000 membership mark in the fall of 2013 for the first time.
 
History of Peach Belt Conference District Winners – Fred Stabley, Sr. Writing Contest
2016-17
Charlotte McCormack/Joshua J. Darling, General Feature
 
2015-16
Brent Hager, USC Aiken, Athlete
 
2008-09
Ken Gerlinger, Peach Belt Conference Office, Event Coverage
 
2006-07
Brad Fields, USC Aiken, Coach/Administrator
 
2004-05
Brad Fields, USC Aiken, Coach/Administrator
 
2003-04
Brad Muller, Georgia College, Athlete
*Since 2002-03