Deseret News sports writer Brad Rock placed third in the sports category of the "Best of the West" contest, a contest for journalists from 13 western states.
Rock, who covers college sports and writes a column for the News, was third out of 71 entries and the only Utah writer to place in any of the 11 categories.His award-winning entry was a profile of Knute Rockne III, the grandson of the famous coach.
"The writer sympathetically tells of the grandson dealing with his legacy, enduring the mockery that attends a high school assistant coach who never became famous except for his famous name," said judge Michael Kelly, sports editor of the Omaha World-Herald.
Kelly praised the quality of the entries. "Long gone are the days when some writers wrote in jargon and cliche, a version of journalese I call `sportugese.' Most of the writing I judged was spare, yet vivid."
Rock graduated from the University of Utah in 1977 and began working for the Deseret News in 1978. For the last nine years he's covered college football and basketball. He and his wife, Julie, have five children.