FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.  The College Sports Communicators organization announced its district winners for the 2024-25 Fred Stabley Sr. Writing Contest on Wednesday. Among all the entries, Methodist University's Assistant Sports Information Director Matthew Shealy saw one of his stories receive recognition. 
 
Shealy earned first place in the "Athlete Profile" category in District 3's college division for his feature story about men's lacrosse student-athlete Zach Crisafulli. Published in May of 2024 and titled, "Marine to Monarch: Zach Crisafulli's Unlikely Path to Division III Lacrosse," the story explores Crisafulli's journey to becoming a student–athlete at Methodist for the first time at the age of 25.
 
Shealy's story will advance to the national ballot along with all other stories that placed first in their district, with national winners in each of the categories to be announced later this month. Methodist's district includes non-Division I schools in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. CSC members in all eight districts submitted nearly 500 articles across seven categories. All stories had to be published within the 2024 calendar year.