APSE announced the first class in its new mentorship program.
The program, which was created by APSE president Todd M. Adams and is being run by The Athletic’s Mike Harris, pairs a small-outlet sports editor with a colleague from a larger newsroom over the course of a calendar year.
The mentor will provide guidance via weekly phone calls and more in-depth monthly check-ins. The mentee will also travel to the mentor’s newsroom, with the help of an APSE stipend. And the pair will attend their APSE region meeting and, hopefully, the APSE summer conference.
The first class includes:
- J.T. Keith (sports editor of the Roswell Daily Record, N.M.) paired with Scott Monserud (sports editor of The Denver Post)
- Jake Adams (sports editor of The Sentinel, Calisle, Pa.) paired with Mike Svetitz (editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch)
- Sierra Webster (sports editor of the Herald and News, Klamath Falls, Ore.) paired with Paul Barrett (sports editor of the The Seattle Times)
- Ryan Black (sports editor of The Mercury, Manhattan, Kan.) paired with Jeff Rosen (sports editor of the Kansas City Star)
The first program begins on Jan. 1, 2020.
Here’s a little more about the first class:
J.T. Keith
J.T. Keith has been the sports editor of the Daily Record in Roswell, N.M., since 2018. An Ohio native, J.T. is a graduate of Eastern New Mexico, with a master’s from Texas Tech. He has interned at the Hobbs (N.M.) News-Sun. While in college, J.T. clerked and freelanced for the Midland (Texas) Reporter-Telegram and the Lubbock (Texas) Avalanche Journal.
Jake Adams
Jake, 28, is the sports editor at The Sentinel in Carlisle, Pa., just a few minutes west of Harrisburg, a small newspaper that he’s proud to say punches above its weight class. He’s been there more than six years, hired as a fresh-faced, proud Temple alumnus as a sports writer. He was promoted barely a year later and joined APSE shortly after that. He is a reluctant cat dad in a split household consisting of a born-and-raised Pittsburgh fan and himself, a born-and-raised Philadelphia fan. He’s also a lifelong bowler and a Harry Potter, Star Wars and Star Trek nerd. He’s excited to join the mentorship program and continue to grow in this business.
Sierra Webster
Sierra Webster is sports editor of the Herald and News of Klamath Falls in Southern Oregon, where she’s responsible for high school sports coverage and daily page production. She previously interned at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she covered the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream and nearly every other Atlanta professional franchise. She also wrote features on Atlanta’s female and LGBTQ athletes and sports fans. She covered University of Oregon women’s basketball for two years, including the program’s historic 2019 Final Four run to Tampa, Fla. Webster graduated magna cum laude from the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication in 2019 with departmental honors and a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Ryan Black
Ryan Black is the sports editor and Kansas State University beat writer at The Mercury in Manhattan, Kan. Black previously covered Auburn University athletics for the 247Sports network and the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, Ga. He also was a stringer and intern for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other newspapers throughout Georgia. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia.
