BERKELEY – Jonathan Okanes, California's associate athletics director for communications, was the recipient of two national awards in the 2024 edition of the annual Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest that was announced Tuesday by College Sports Communicators.
 
Okanes won in the Coach/Administrator Profile category and was the runner-up for National Story of the Year for his feature about men's basketball head coach Mark Madsen. Cal added a third national award in the contest with football tight end J.T. Byrne's first-person feature about his mother's battle with breast cancer – nominated by Cal director of communications Keeler McJunkin – placing as the runner-up in the Student Submissions category.
 
Cal's three national awards led all schools in the CSC's University Division. A full list of the national winners can be viewed on collegesportscommunicators.com.
 
Nearly 400 entries were submitted in seven categories in the 2023-24 contest. Each category was first judged on the district level – Cal's athletic communications staff took home nine District 8 awards, the most ever by any school in the country in a single year – with the winners then advancing to national consideration. All national category winners were considered for National Story of the Year.
 
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