Winners announced for 2020 TSWA writing contest

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Sports Writers Association released the winners of the annual writing contest this week. All of the first, second and third-place winners will be recognized during the Hall of Fame dinner and banquet on Thursday, July 8, at Cumberland University. Thanks to Ron Higgins for again coordinating the judging for all of the categories in the annual writing contest.

TSWA 2020 WRITING CONTEST RESULTS
Entries were from January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020

DIVISION I
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean: The winner by a wide, wide margin, led by his thorough, balanced and incredibly detailed investigative report on an expelled Vandy football player found responsible for sexual assault who continued to have access to the football facilities and activities that placed him in the proximity of his accuser. 2. John Varlas, The Daily Memphian. 3. John Glennon, The Athletic/SI.com.

BEST COLUMNIST – 1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel: There seems to be a clear division in writing styles among these entries. Four writers wrote feature-type columns, using quotes from subjects to give validity to the writers’ opinions. And then you have one writer who didn’t quote anybody in his three columns, which were bursting with strong opinions delivered with facts and perspective. 2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. Tom Kreager, The Tennessean.

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. John Glennon, The Athletic/SI.com: Superb writing and reporting in all three stories, but the feature recalling Titans’ clandestine workouts in 2012 of free agent quarterback Peyton Manning was simply amazing. Writer doesn’t get in the way of great storytelling. 2. John Varlas, The Daily Memphian. 3. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free-Press: Easy winner. Each of his entries checked all the boxes of excellent event stories. Creative leads, great context, hints of atmosphere, sprinkling quotes in just the right places. 2. Tom Kreager, The Tennessean. 3. Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press.

BEST NEWS WRITER – 1. Tom Kreager, The Tennessean: Great detail and clarity on controversial happenings, such as a high school walkout protesting the unexpected firing of a popular coach, as well explaining who has jurisdiction to stop high school playoff games because of COVID-19 and who doesn’t have jurisdiction to halt regular season play. 2. Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press. 3. None awarded.

BEST PREP WRITER – 1. John Varlas, The Daily Memphian: It was obvious this writer put a lot of legwork into his stories. It wasn’t just making numerous phone calls for a wonderfully written obit on the passing of a legendary Memphis-area football coach. It was about being on the scene at a protest of Shelby County School football players upset about the postponement of their seasons because of COVID-19. 2. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times-Free-Press. 3. Tom Kreager, The Tennessean.

NOTE: DID NOT HAVE ENTRIES TO JUDGE BEST DAILY SECTION, BEST SPECIAL SECTION, BEST INVESTIGATIVE SERIES, BEST INDIVIDUAL LAYOUT AND BEST OUTDOOR WRITER

DIVISION II
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger: Three compelling subjects – a look at the MacIntyre coaching tree, a ground-breaking African-American high school football player and a longtime friend remembering Johnny Majors upon his death – were all smooth, easy reads. 2. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal. 3. None awarded.

BEST SPECIAL SECTION (COMBINED DIVISION II AND III) – 1. Union City Messenger 2020 Football Preview (Kevin Weaks, editor): A read-all-season section that has extras other preseason sections don’t, simple touches such as graphics filled with quick read info reviewing the previous 2019 season and the 2020 schedule stripped across the bottom using colorful logos of opponents. 2. Weakley County Press 2020 High School Football Preview (Randy Cavin, editor). 3. Macon County Times Area Basketball Preview (Craig Harris, editor).

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal – Winner could have done a better job choosing stories. There should be one human tragedy – such as car wrecks, overcoming deadly disease – story limit. Fortunately, the winner saved himself writing about a secondary school superfan coping with no sports because of the pandemic. 2. Taylor Vortherms, The Daily Times, Maryville. 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: Simply had better story angles and creative leads that made you want to read on. And when you did, there was a judicious use of quotes to keep the story flow smooth. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger 3. None awarded.

BEST NEWS WRITER – 1. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger: Two of the winner’s three stories were COVID-19 pandemic-related, but both were timely and extremely informative, such as UTM officials and athletes trying to understand the ins and outs of the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility offers. 2. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal. 3. None awarded.

BEST PREP WRITER – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: Excellent news story on Oakland High football program being placed on probation gave the winner an edge in this category. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger. 3. None awarded.

NOTE: DID NOT HAVE ANY OR NOT ENOUGH ENTRIES TO JUDGE BEST SECTION, BEST COLUMNIST, BEST INDIVIDUAL LAYOUT

DIVISION III
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Craig Harris, Macon County Times: His three stories were vastly different – a feature on eighth-grader gunshot victim recovering to play football, a multi-voiced reaction story to COVID-19 shutting down high school sports and a “What if?” column wondering how some of the local high school seasons would have played out if not for the COVID-19 shutdown. 2 Russell Vannozzi, Main Street Media. 3 Bill Traughber, Nashville Retrospect.

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Russell Vannozzi, Main Street Media: Impressed with the thoroughness of the features by the winning writer, yet without droning on and on. Also, his leads didn’t beat around the bush. Got the reader quickly into the story. 2. Craig Harris, Macon County Times. 3. Randy Cavin, Weakley County Press.

BEST NEWS/EVENT WRITER – 1. Bill Sorrell, West 10 Media: Had the best leads, the best organization, the best flow. The lengths of all these stories were long with lots of quotes, maybe a few too many. 2. Russell Vannozzi, Main Street Media. 3. Cory Woodroof, Williamson Home Page.

NOTE: PAIRED DIVISION III SPECIAL SECTION ENTRIES WITH DIVISION II DUE TO A LACK OF ENTRIES

DIVISION IV
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Chad Bishop, Vanderbilt: Writer took the reader inside each of his subjects, such Vanderbilt women’s soccer player turned placekicker Sara Fuller and put the reader in their worlds with detailed, but not overwritten writing. 2. Phil Stukenborg, University of Memphis. 3 Mark McGee, Lipscomb.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Thomas Corhern, Tennessee Tech: Engaging leads but story organization and flow were strongpoints. Gave the readers all the answers to any questions they might have. 2. Anne C. Wehunt, Chattanooga. 3. Jay Blackman, Chattanooga.

TSWA Hall of Fame induction set for July 8

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Sports Writers Association Hall of Fame dinner and induction will take place Thursday, July 8 at 6 p.m. CT in Baird Chapel on the campus of Cumberland University, the organization announced this week.

The 15th Annual TSWA dinner and auction will honor classes from 2020 and 2021. Tommy Bryan (Lebanon), Teresa Walker (Associated Press) and Mark Wiedmer (Chattanooga) were selected for the 2020 class while Larry Taft (Nashville), Maurice Patton (Nashville/Columbia) and George Starr (Cleveland) are part of the 2021 class.

The TSWA will also present awards for college football, men’s and women’s basketball coach and player of the year as well as the plaques and certificates for the annual writing contest, with those winners announced in June.

Tickets for the dinner cost $25 per person and may be purchased at the door via cash or check. Anyone planning to attend is urged to RSVP to Jo Jo Freeman at jojo.freeman@gmail.com by Wednesday, June 30. Those attending will be encouraged but not required to wear masks while entering and exiting Memorial Hall/Baird Chapel.

Memphis’ Bibiloni, Vanderbilt’s Leiter named TSWA Players of the Week

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – University of Memphis junior Ian Bibiloni and Vanderbilt’s Jack Leiter earned Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week honors, respectively, for games from May 10-16.

Bibiloni batted .471 (8-for-17) with three doubles, a home run, six RBIs and four runs scored in four games for the Tigers.

The Lakeland, Tenn., native posted a 4-for-5 performance with three RBIs in the second game of Friday’s doubleheader. He doubled and scored in the first inning and plated two runs with a two-bagger in the second. He reached on a bunt single in the fourth and singled home a run in the seventh.

Bibiloni added three more hits, two runs and two RBIs in the third game of the series with the Cougars, doubling and scoring in the first inning and reaching on another bunt single in the fifth. He also hit a solo homer in the seventh.

He walked and scored at the start of the eighth inning and singled home a run later in the frame for the Tigers in the series finale. Bibiloni is hitting .259 for the season with nine doubles, two homers, 24 RBIs and 24 runs scored in 49 contests.

Leiter struck out 13 and allowed just two hits and one run at 18th-ranked Ole Miss, posting his eighth victory of the season.

The Summit, N.J., native worked around a walk in the first and hit batters in the second and fourth innings. Two free passes, a single and a wild pitch plated the only run for the Rebels against the righthander in the sixth inning.

The contest marked the seventh this year with double-digit strikeouts for Leiter, who leads the SEC in punch outs with 119. He improved to 8-2 with a 2.05 ERA in 70.1 innings this season, giving up just 30 hits with 32 walks. Opponents are batting .126 against him in 12 appearances, all starts.

2021 TSWA BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
February 23 – Andrew Keene, Lincoln Memorial (Player); Gunner Becker, Tusculum University (Pitcher)
March 2 – Dominic Keegan, Vanderbilt (Player); Joshua South, Belmont (Pitcher)
March 10 – Fuzzy Furr, Tusculum University (Player); Elijah Pleasants, Tennessee (Pitcher)
March 16 – Isaiah Thomas, Vanderbilt (Player); Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
March 23 – Liam Spence, Tennessee (Player); Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
March 30 – Drew Gilbert, Tennessee (Player); Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
April 6 – John Behrends, Belmont (Player); Aaron Brown, Middle Tennessee (Pitcher)
April 13 – Jacob Justice, Bryan College (Player); Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
April 20 – Daulton Martin, Tusculum University (Player); Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
April 27 – Jake Rucker, Tennessee (Player); Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
May 4 – Enrique Bradfield, Vanderbilt (Player); Alex Clouthier, Trevecca University (Pitcher)
May 12 – Shawn Wallwork, Trevecca University (Player); Blake Tidwell, Tennessee (Pitcher)

College players of the week announced by TSWA - May 12

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BASEBALL: Trevecca’s Wallwork, Tennessee’s Tidwell named TSWA Players of the Week
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Trevecca University’s Shawn Wallwork and Tennessee’s Blake Tidwell earned Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Week honors, respectively, for games from May 3-9.

Wallwork batted .500 (9-for-18) in a four-game series against Cedarville University with two doubles, one homer, 11 RBIs and six runs scored.

The Franklin, Tenn., native was 4-for-6 with a double, home run, five RBIs and two runs scored in the opener against the Yellowjackets. He drove in a run with a groundout in the second inning, singled in the fifth, belted a solo homer in the sixth and drove in two runs with a single in the seventh. He also doubled home a run and later scored in the ninth.

The freshman walked, stole second and scored in the first inning of the second game of the series and added an RBI single in the second inning. His other RBI in the contest came on a bases-loaded walk.

Wallwork singled and scored in the fourth inning in game three and drove in a pair of runs with another single in the fifth. In the series finale he doubled home two runs in the seventh inning and later scored and then collected a single in the ninth.

He is hitting .352 with seven doubles, 25 RBIs and 21 runs scored in 29 games this year.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Tidwell continued his stellar freshman campaign, giving up one run on two hits with two walks and five strikeouts at Missouri.

The Loretto, Tenn., native allowed a single and that runner scored on a sacrifice fly in the first inning. The righthander retired the side in order in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings, walking one batter in the second and fourth. Missouri’s only other scoring chance was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a single in the fourth.

Tidwell improved to 6-2 on the season with a 3.71 ERA in 63.0 innings over 12 appearances, all starts. He has allowed 61 hits and 26 earned runs with 21 walks and 58 strikeouts.

2021 TSWA BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
February 23 – Andrew Keene, Lincoln Memorial (Player); Gunner Becker, Tusculum University (Pitcher)
March 2 – Dominic Keegan, Vanderbilt (Player); Joshua South, Belmont (Pitcher)
March 10 – Fuzzy Furr, Tusculum University (Player); Elijah Pleasants, Tennessee (Pitcher)
March 16 – Isaiah Thomas, Vanderbilt (Player); Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
March 23 – Liam Spence, Tennessee (Player); Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
March 30 – Drew Gilbert, Tennessee (Player); Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
April 6 – John Behrends, Belmont (Player); Aaron Brown, Middle Tennessee (Pitcher)
April 13 – Jacob Justice, Bryan College (Player); Jack Leiter, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
April 20 – Daulton Martin, Tusculum University (Player); Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
April 27 – Jake Rucker, Tennessee (Player); Kumar Rocker, Vanderbilt (Pitcher)
May 4 – Enrique Bradfield, Vanderbilt (Player); Alex Clouthier, Trevecca University (Pitcher)

SOFTBALL: Trevecca’s Odom, Hall garner TSWA Player of the Week honors
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Trevecca University’s MaKray Odom and Raygn Hall earned Tennessee Sports Writers Association’s Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week accolades, respectively, for games from May 3-9.

Odom batted .421 (8-for-19) with three doubles, eight RBIs and five runs scored in five games for the Trojans in the Great Midwest Conference Championships.

The Dickson, Tenn., native posted two hits, four RBIs and a run scored against Findlay University, including a bases-clearing double and an RBI groundout. The senior collected two hits and scored twice versus Ursuline College and added a two-run double and a run scored against Hillsdale College.

Odom posted two hits and scored a run versus Tiffin University and drove in both TNU runs with a double versus Ohio Dominican. She is hitting .484 with seven doubles, 23 RBIs and 35 runs scored in 38 games this season.

Hall registered a 2-2 mark with one save and a 1.69 ERA in five games, allowing 19 hits and five earned runs in 20.2 innings and striking out 13 without issuing a walk.

The Kingston, Tenn., native threw just 77 pitches in a complete game against Cedarville University, scattering seven hits and giving up one earned run with seven strikeouts but suffering a loss in a 2-1 TNU defeat.

The senior righthander allowed one hit in five innings with four strikeouts for the win in a victory over Ursuline and got the final six outs for a save versus Hillsdale, inducing five ground ball outs while giving up two hits.

Hall recorded a win with two-thirds of an inning of relief against Hillsdale, with the Trojans scoring six times in the sixth inning. She tossed six innings versus Ohio Dominican, giving up four runs on eight hits in a 4-2 defeat.

Hall has posted a 13-9 mark overall in 23 appearances (19 starts) this season for the Trojans, logging 118.0 innings with 22 walks and 73 strikeouts. She has pitched 48 percent of the team’s innings in 2021.

2021 TSWA SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
February 23 – Katie Eakes, Carson-Newman (Player); Nikole Counts, King University (Pitcher)
March 10 – Carly Turner, King University (Player); Ragyn Hall, Trevecca University (Pitcher)
March 16 – Shannon Smith, Carson-Newman (Player); Nikole Counts, King University (Pitcher)
March 23 – Shannon Smith, Carson-Newman (Player); Corrina Dodd, Middle Tennessee (Pitcher)
April 20 – Mackenzi David, Union University (Player); Corrina Dodd, Middle Tennessee (Pitcher)
May 4 – Cheyenne Cavanaugh, Belmont (Player); Raygn Hall, Trevecca University (Pitcher)

Memphis' White, Silverfield garner TSWA football honors

NASHVILLE – University of Memphis quarterback Brady White and head coach Ryan Silverfield were recognized as the Tennessee Sports Writers Association College Football Player and Coach of the Year, respectively, as announced this week by the organization.

White finished fifth nationally in passing touchdowns (31) and sixth in the country in passing yards (3,380) during his senior season, helping the Tigers to an 8-3 record. He was named MVP of the Montgomery Bowl in Memphis' first bowl victory since 2014. 

The Santa Clarita, Calif., native set career school records for wins as a starting quarterback (28), passing yards (10,690) and passing touchdowns (90). He concluded his career 73rd on the career FBS passing yards list.

White was named the winner of the 31st William V. Campbell Trophy in January. The award, commonly known as the Academic Heisman, is presented to the college football player with the best combination of academics, community service and on-field performance. White was also a First Team Senior CLASS Award All-American, one of nine semifinalists for the Wuerffel Trophy and a Top 15 candidate for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

Silverfield led the Tigers to an 8-3 record, setting a school record for winning percentage by a first-year head coach. Memphis also set school records for the longest home winning streak, which currently sits at 15 games and ranks in the Top 5 nationally, and the largest comeback after rallying from a 21-point deficit to defeat UCF, 50-49.

Silverfield's first season was capped by a 25-10 victory over Florida Atlantic in the Montgomery Bowl, snapping a five-game bowl losing streak and giving the Tigers their first bowl win since 2014. Due to injuries, roster turnover and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tigers reached eight wins despite just 53 scholarship players available in their final games of the season.