Rachel Lenzi, Michelle Martinelli, Thomas Scott and Marquel Slaughter have been named to the ninth Associated Press Sports Editors Diversity Fellowship class for 2019-20.

“As the competition for one of these spots increases each year, so do our expectations,” said Diversity Fellowship co-chair Larry Graham. “ Michael (Anastasi), Jorge (Rojas) and I are looking forward to watching this next class meet and exceed our expectations.”

  • A former board member of the Association for Women in Sports Media, Rachel is a college and high school enterprise writer with The Buffalo (N.Y.) News. She formerly worked at Landof10.com; The Blade in Toledo, Ohio; and the Portland (Maine) Press Herald.
  • Michelle is the lead college football and motorsports reporter at For The Win, one of the newest APSE members. She has degrees from Michigan State and Northwestern.
  • Thomas has been the sports editor of the Beaumont (Texas) Enterprise since 2018.  An Atlanta native, he is a graduate of Morehouse with a masters from Syracuse.
  • Marquel has been a sports reporter at The (Utica, N.Y.) Observer-Dispatch since 2016. He is a graduate of Canisius College with 11 years of professional experience.

The quartet will take part in a weekend of training and enrichment hosted by past APSE president Michael Anastasi in Nashville. They will also participate in on-site judging at the winter convention in St. Petersburg, Fla., and virtually for the online contest; attend a local region meeting; and then graduate at the summer convention in Indianapolis.

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