Jon Wilner, who covers the Pacific-12 Conference for the Bay Area News Group/Mercury News, won Top 10 honors this week in the nation’s most prestigious sports writing contest.

Wilner, competing against the biggest newspapers and websites in the category of Beat Writing, now moves into the final round of judging by the Associated Press Sports Editors. Winners will be announced next month.

Wilner broke the biggest story in college sports in 2022, reporting exclusively on June 30 that USC and UCLA would leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten Conference. His five-piece entry also included a first-look at the scorched Pac-12 landscape, the threat of more teams leaving the conference, and possible paths to salvation and success.

A member of the Sports Staff since 2000, Wilner has won Top 10 honors seven times in his career. His 2016 story on Steve Kerr was named No. 1 in the Features category.