Wahl, Feinstein dominate USBWA writing contest

Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated and John Feinstein of the Washington Post took home the lion's share in this season's U.S. Basketball Writers Association writing contest.

Wahl finished first in investigative/enterprise reporting and second in three other categories.

Feinstein took first place for game stories/ spot news and also placed second and third with other entries.

Wahl finished first for a story that analyzed the 65-team field for the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

Wahl also finished second in game stories/spot news, magazine length and moderate length features.

Feinstein claimed a first for his piece on George Mason's victory over UConn to advance to the Final Four.

Feinstein also took second in columns and third in moderate length features.

Other first-place finishes were posted by Mike Sielski of the Intelligencer in magazine- length writing for his story on a nun who dedicated her life to giving New Jersey players hope; David Jones of the Harrisburg Patriot-News in moderate-length features for a piece on the joy and tragedy of the birth of quadruplets for Bucknell assistant coach Bryan Goodman and his wife, Amy; and Pete DiPrimio of the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel in column writing for his opinion on the fall of Indiana coach Mike Davis.

Jones also finished fifth in magazinelength writing. Other multiple place-winners were Malcolm Moran of USA Today (third in investigative/enterprise and fourth in game stories/spot news) and Lew Freedman of the Chicago Tribune (fourth-place finishes in magazine length and investigative/enterprise reporting).

Other place-winners included John Akers of Basketball Times (second, investigative/ enterprise); Mike Waters of the Syracuse Post-Standard (third, game stories/ spot news); Bud Withers of the Seattle Times (third, magazine length); Phil Chardis of the Manchester Journal Inquirer (third, columns); Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News (fourth, moderate length features); Gene Sapakoff of the Charleston Post and Courier (fourth, columns); Tom Kensler of the Denver Post (fifth, game stories/spot news); Wendell Barnhouse of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (fifth, investigative/ enterprise); Bob Baptist fo the Columbia Dispatch (fifth, moderate length features) and John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader (fifth, columns).