Jovencio de la Paz (of Gresham, Ore.) Josh Faught (of Eugene), and Jenny Heishman, Sean Johnson, and Matthew Offenbacher of Seattle are in the running for a grand prize of $15,000 and two runner-up awards of $2,500. I'd say Offenbacher and Heishman are the ones to beat.

Full release at SAM-BettyBowenFinalists2009.pdf.