GREENWOOD, Ind. -- Montana Tech's athletic department laid claim to three awards in College Sports Communicators' 2025 Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest, the organization announced this week.
The contest's judges awarded associate athletic director Mark Robertson one first-place and two runner-up awards for his coverage of Oredigger athletics on GoDiggers.com. The honors came in the college division's District 7, which included submissions from all non-NCAA Division I institutions in the U.S. states of Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota and Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta.
In the social justice/diversity category, the article, "
Always faithful: Jany represents Montana Tech at Marine Corps PLC," chronicling cross country and track & field standout
Alyssa Jany's athletic accomplishments and pursuit of an officer's commission in the United States Marine Corps, took first place in the district.
The athlete profile of Oredigger football/rodeo/track & field student-athlete
Justus Peterson, "
'Just what you do', three-sport athlete Peterson recognized as Montana Athlete in Service," earned a runner-up nod.
And the historical feature, "
'Gutting the elk': Orediggers look back on 1996 football semifinal win over Carroll," the story of Montana Tech's first-ever postseason win against its archrival ahead of the Orediggers' 2025 playoff victory over the Saints, also garnered runner-up honors.
The author, Robertson, joined the staff at Montana Tech in October 2024 as associate athletic director. A former newspaper reporter in Polson, Great Falls, and his home state of Virginia, he filled the role of sports information director at University of Lynchburg in Virginia from 2017-23. He is an active CSC member and serves as a district judge for the Stabley awards program.
Fred Stabley Sr. worked as an athletic communications professional at Michigan State University from 1948-80 and is known as a founding father of the College Sports Information Directors of America, now known as College Sports Communicators. He passed away at age 81 in 1996. CSC preserved his memory in the profession a year later by naming its annual writing contest in his honor.
CSC members in all eight districts submitted nearly 500 articles in eight categories: Athlete profile, coach/administrator profile, event coverage, general feature/blog, historical feature, season recap/preview, social justice/diversity & inclusion, and student submissions. District winners advance to the national ballot, with national winners in each of the eight categories to be announced later this month.
All writing had to have an original publish date between January 1-December 31, 2025 to be eligible.
Visit Montana Tech athletics' home online, GoDiggers.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news and coverage of the Orediggers. Give Montana Tech athletics a like on Facebook, and follow the Orediggers on X and Instagram at @DiggerAthletics.
###
