By: Averett Athletics Communications Department

DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University Director of Athletics Communications Drew Wilson‘s story on the 2003 Averett men’s golf team’s national title won first place nationally in the “Historical Feature” category and was the runner-up for “National Story of the Year” in the College Division of the 2023-24 Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest through the College Sports Communicators, the organization announced Tuesday.

Wilson’s story titled “Members of Averett men’s golf’s 2003 national championship team recount incredible comeback,” which was published on May 15, 2023, highlighted the 20th anniversary of Averett’s first NCAA title.

Five of Wilson’s stories were recognized within the district voting announced on June 5. He had two stories earn first place in the district and had three other stories finish as the runner-up in their respective College Division categories. Wilson placed first or second within District 3’s College Division in all five categories in which he submitted entries for in this year’s contest. His two stories that earned first place within District 3 advanced to the national ballot.

In addition to writing, Wilson’s social media graphic honoring football’s Jahlin Russell as the 2023 Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s Lou Wacker Defensive Player of the Year recently was listed as No. 14 in the “Best of Division III” within the “Non-Game Day Graphic” category of the 2023-24 College Sports Communicators’ Creative and Digital Design Contest, which was announced June 12.

For the first time this year, the Stabley Writing Contest was split into University and College divisions, allowing the recognition of the work done by members from smaller offices without as much time to devote to longer feature writing. All stories had to be published within the 2023 calendar year.