By Jorge Rojas
APSE contest chair
The Los Angeles Times, USA Today Sports, IndyStar and News & Observer earned Grand Slam honors and the Montgomery Advertiser was awarded a Triple Crown in the annual Associated Press Sports Editors contest, which concluded last week in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
The Los Angeles Times and USA Today Sports competed in Division A, which included the nation’s largest publications (daily print circulation/monthly digital unique visitors), while the IndyStar (Indianapolis) and News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) competed in Division B and Montgomery (Ala.) competed in Division D.
The APSE contest, voted on by sports editors and writers from across the nation, honored the best work in 2021.
This year, in an effort to better represent the digital-first focus of today’s Sports departments, APSE changed the requirements to win a Triple Crown and Grand Slam. To win the Triple Crown, Top 10 finishes were needed in three categories: 1) Print (for either Daily or Sunday sections); 2) Digital; and 3) Long Feature writing. To win the Grand Slam, a Triple Crown winner was required to also have a Top 10 finish in Projects.
The Athletic (Division A) won 10 Top 10 awards and the News & Observer (Division B) received eight Top 10s to set the pace in their divisions in the writing contest. The Dispatch (Columbus, Miss.) led Division C with seven, and The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer led Division D with 10.
Results were released Friday in the Action and Feature Photo categories, and The New York Times led Division A with three Top 10s. In Division B, the IndyStar, Lexington Herald-Leader, Louisville Courier Journal, Orlando Sentinel, San Antonio Express-News, and Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard each had two Top 10 finishers. The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.) led Division C with three. The Montgomery Advertiser had the maximum four Top 10s (two in each category) in Division D.
Winners will receive their awards at the APSE summer conference in Indianapolis (June 15-18).
Here are the results in the Triple Crown and Grand Slam categories, with papers listed in alphabetical order:
DIVISION A
DAILY SECTION
TOP 10
Houston Chronicle
Los Angeles Times
Miami Herald
Southern California News Group (Anaheim, Calif.)
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
The Advocate/The Times-Picayune (Baton Rouge/New Orleans)
The New York Times
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Seattle Times
USA Today Sports
HONORABLE MENTION
The Detroit News
Tampa Bay Times
The Washington Post
SUNDAY SECTION
Houston Chronicle
Los Angeles Times
Newsday
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
The Advocate/The Times-Picayune (Baton Rouge/New Orleans)
The Boston Globe
The Dallas Morning News
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Seattle Times
The Washington Post
LONG FEATURE
Jeff Eisenberg, Yahoo Sports
Henry Bushnell and Jeff Eisenberg, Yahoo Sports
Sam McDowell, The Kansas City Star
Jeff Miller, Los Angeles Times
Stephen J. Nesbitt, The Athletic
Jeff Passan, ESPN.com
Steve Politi, NJ Advance Media
Tom Schad, USA Today Sports
Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press
Matt Stanmyre, NJ Advance Media
PROJECTS
Detroit Free Press — Evan Petzold, Ryan Ford and Jeff Seidel
ESPN.com — Baxter Holmes
Los Angeles Times — Erik Himmelsbach-Weinstein, Mark Potts, Gustavo Arellano, Jessica C. Chen, Steve Saldivar
Miami Herald — Michelle Kaufman, David Ovalle, Greg Cote, Jordan McPherson, Andre Fernandez
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — Jim Owczarski, Lori Nickel, Ben Steele, JR Radcliffe, Olivia Reiner
The Athletic — College Football Staff
The New York Times — Bedel Saget, Larry Buchanan, Emily Rhyne, Joe Ward, Paula Ceballos Delgado
The San Francisco Chronicle — John Shea, Bruce Jenkins, Scott Ostler, Ron Kroichick
The Washington Post — Staff
USA Today Sports — Alyssa Hertel, Paul Myerberg, Tom Schad, Brent Schrotenboer, Jim Sergent
DIVISION B
DAILY SECTION
TOP 10
IndyStar (Indianapolis)
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Omaha World-Herald
Philadelphia Daily News
San Antonio Express-News
The Buffalo News
The Gazette (Colorado Springs)
The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)
The Record (Bergen, N.J.)
The Blade (Toledo. Ohio)
SUNDAY SECTION
The Champaign News-Gazette
IndyStar (Indianapolis)
Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Buffalo News
The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)
The Scranton Times-Tribune
The Villages Daily Sun
Omaha World-Herald
The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
The Salt Lake Tribune
LONG FEATURE
Jim Ayello, IndyStar (Indianapolis)
Jenni Carlson, The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)
Andrew Carter, The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Zach Dean, Daytona Beach News-Journal
Gentry Estes, The Tennessean (Nashville, Tenn.)
Scott Fowler, The Charlotte Observer
Brian Hedger, The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch
Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune
Eric Walden, The Salt Lake Tribune
Jason Wolf, The Buffalo News
PROJECTS
Austin American-Statesman – Cedric Golden, Brian Davis, Kirk Bohls
The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch – Ray Stein, Bailey Johnson
IndyStar (Indianapolis) – Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Nathan Brown, Zach Osterman, Gregg Doyel, Shari Rudavsky
Omaha World-Herald – Evan Bland, Sam McKewon, Dirk Chatelain, Jimmy Watkins, Tom Shatel
The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) – Steve Wiseman, Luke DeCock, Ned Barnett, Kevin Keister
San Antonio Express-News – Mike Finger, Jeff McDonald, Greg Luca, David Hinojosa
The Buffalo News – Jason Wolf, Jay Skurski, Mark Gaughan, Mike Harrington, Lance Lysowski
Courier Journal (Louisville, Ky.) – Andre Toran, Jonathan Saxon, Dominique Yates, Hayes Gardner, Jason Frakes
The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) – Jacob Unruh, Jeff Patterson
Syracuse.com/The Post-Standard – Chris Carlson
DIVISION C
DAILY SECTION
TOP 10
Altoona Mirror
The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.)
Grand Forks Herald
News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.)
The Lewiston (Idaho) Tribune
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The Republican Herald (Pottsville, Pa.)
The Roanoke Times
The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)
Williamsport Sun-Gazette
LONG FEATURE
Eric Blum, Columbia Daily Tribune
Gene Frenette, The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville)
Noah Hiles, Beaver County Times
Drew Hill, The Daily Memphian
Larry Bohannan, The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.)
Theo DeRosa, The Dispatch (Columbus, Miss.)
Ben Portnoy, The Dispatch (Columbus, Miss.)
Tim Benz, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Nick Suss, Clarion Ledger (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Patrick Obley, Daily Sun (Port Charlotte, Fla.)
DIVISION C/D
SUNDAY SECTION
TOP 10
Casper Star-Tribune
Florida Times-Union
The Lewiston Tribune
Marietta Daily Journal
Montgomery Advertiser
News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.)
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
The Roanoke Times
The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)
Winston-Salem Journal
PROJECTS
BamaCentral — Christopher Walsh, Joey Blackwell, Tyler Martin and Edwin Stanton
The News-Press (Fort Myers, Fla.) — Alex Martin, Dustin Levy, Adam Fisher
The Beaver County Times — Noah Hiles
Naples Daily News — Adam Fisher, Greg Hardwig, Ed Reed
The Roanoke Times — Michael Niziolek
The State (Columbia, S.C) — Greg Hadley, Ben Portnoy
Daily Sun (Port Charlotte, Fla.) — Patrick Obley
Athens Banner-Herald — McClain Baxley
Denton Record-Chronicle — Brett Vito
The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer — Chapel Fowler, Adam Smith, David Thompson
DIVISION D
DAILY SECTION
TOP 5
Casper Star-Tribune
Marietta Daily Journal
Montgomery Advertiser
Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine)
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
LONG FEATURE
TOP 10
Bennett Durando, Montgomery Advertiser
Mitchell Forde, PowerMizzou.com
Jane Allison Havsy, Daily Record
Michael Katz , Laramie Boomerang
Chris Kwiecinski, The Spectrum & Daily News
Peter Scamardo, Victoria Advocate
Matt Schuckman, Muddy River Sports
David Thompson, The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer
Brett Vito, Denton Record-Chronicle
Marc Weiszer, Athens Banner-Herald
