By Mary Byrne, APSE Second Vice President
D.C. Reeves of The Tuscaloosa News took first place in the Associated Press Sports Editors 2014 contest for Features in the under 30,000 circulation category.
Reeves will be presented a first-place plaque at the 2015 APSE banquet on June 27 at The Westgate Hotel in San Diego, Calif.
Balloting by six APSE judges ranked Reeves ahead of runner-up Tommy Deas of The Tuscaloosa News and third-place finisher James Crepea of the Montgomery Advertiser. The top 10 is listed below with links to writers’ Twitter pages and entries.
Sports editors in the under 30,000 circulation category submitted 121 feature entries written or directed by APSE member sports departments in 2014. All entries were stripped of their headlines, bylines and any other elements that would identify the writer or news organization.
In early February, preliminary judges at the APSE winter conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., selected a top 10, with each judge ranking the entries in order from 1 to 10 separately on a secret ballot. Entries were given 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for second and so on. The final 10 were given to a second judging group, which ranked the entries 1-10 in the same fashion. The winner and final rankings are determined by tallying the ballots.
The Feature Writing category is judged on human interest, reader interest, quality of writing and thoroughness of reporting. Each member news organization was permitted up to three entries in this category.
The contest is open to all APSE members. Go to this link to join.
2014 APSE Contest: Game Story, under 30,000 circulation
(First-place votes in parentheses)
1. D.C. Reeves, The Tuscaloosa News, 58 points (4)
From Polish orphan to Alabama’s kicker: Adam Griffith’s wild ride
2. Tommy Deas, The Tuscaloosa News, 53 points (1)
Winding West Va. path leads Nick Saban to success
3. James Crepea, Montgomery Advertiser, 44 points
Auburn Iron Bowl hero perseveres to reach the NFL
4. Mark Selig, Columbia Missourian, 33 points
100 years of Kewpies: Hickman High School embraces unusual mascot
5. Mike Vorel, Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, 31 points (1)
Dying to live: Former UW player J.J. Quinlan survives near-death experience, finds happiness
6. Jim Seimas, Santa Cruz Sentinel, 31 points
7. John Borneman, Pioneer Local, 25 points
Working overtime with the Yeshiva boys basketball team
8. Steve Bennett, The Citizens’ Voice, 23 points
Rawlings designated as official football
9. Travis Lazarczyk, Morning Sentinel, 17 points
Three Maine schools maintain Indian nicknames amid national pushback
10. Andrew Macke, Index-Journal, 15 points
