March 30, 2018
By Robert Gagliardi, APSE Third Vice President
Ross Dellenger of The Advocate in Baton Rouge, La., won first place in the Associated Press Sports Editors 2017 contest in beat writing for the 75,000-175,000 circulation category.
Dellenger’s winning entries were for his coverage of LSU football. He will be presented a first-place plaque at the 2018 APSE banquet. The banquet and awards dinner concludes the APSE Summer Conference June 17-20 at the Marriott Hotel Nashville/Vanderbilt University. The second- through 10th-place winners will receive frameable certificates.
The contest is open to APSE members. Click here to join.
Second place went to Zach Buchanan of The Cincinnati Enquirer for his coverage of the Cincinnati Reds. Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel placed third for his coverage of the Green Bay Packers.
Contest chair John Bednarowski and fellow APSE officers Jeff Rosen, Todd Adams and Robert Gagliardi numbered each entry. Preliminary judges selected a top 10, and from there another group of judges ranked the finalists in order from 1 to 10 separately on a secret ballot. Entries were given 10 points for a first-place vote, nine for second, etc. The winner and final rankings are determined by tallying the ballots.
A beat writing entry consists of five stories: at least one breaking news story, one event or game coverage, one enterprise piece and two wild-card entries.
The top 10 is listed below with links to writers’ Twitter pages, APSE member websites and the winning entries.
- Ross Dellenger, The Advocate, 57 points, 2 first-place votes
Ole Miss and Ed Orgeron: The wild story behind the hire, and how it brought LSU to this moment
How does SEC, LSU solve their attendance issues? Well, it’s complicated …
How football and Greedy Williams came together to save his family, provide hope
What a comeback! LSU storms back, overcomes huge deficit to beat Auburn in epic affair
Sources: LSU, Matt Canada expected to split after Citrus Bowl
- Zach Buchanan, The Cincinnati Enquirer, 56 points, 4 first-place votes
Scooter Gennett pitches in long, strange Reds loss
Video appears to show Reds prospect’s drug use
What did the Reds show Shohei Ohtani? They showed us.
The swing tweak that may have fixed Jose Peraza
- Michael Cohen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 51 points
Packers running back Aaron Jones faces marijuana-related charge
Packers’ running game has no answers for Ravens’ stout defense
Packers’ Russ Ball a man of immense influence and intrigue
Rebirth in the ring: Highsmith’s boxing bridge
A special time for Hyde, surging Packers
- Brett Dawson, The Oklahoman, 41 points, 1 first-place vote
Enes Kanter detained in Romania, blames political views
For new Thunder players, adjustment is more than on-court
MONSTERUSS: Westbrook erupts for 57 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists in overtime win
For ‘Olympic Melo,’ a golden opportunity in OKC
The oral history of the 3-point shot
- Andrew Greif, The Oregonian/OregonLive, 36 points
How the Oregon Ducks football season unraveled, and ended with coach Mark Helfrich’s firing
Multiple Oregon Ducks football players hospitalized after grueling workouts
For Justin Wilcox and Justin Herbert, Cal-Oregon is about football and family
Oregon Ducks say 69-10 Civil War win was payback for last year’s loss, and this week’s trash talk
Willie Taggart leaves Oregon Ducks to become head coach at Florida State
- Brooke Pryor, The Oklahoman, 35 points
The Kid and the Heisman: How embracing his inner-child motivates Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield
Mayfield proves Sooners are no pretenders
Two teams, one goal: Sooners, Cowboys unite in the fight against opioid abuse
Real Sooner Magic: Why OU’s win against Texas was extra special for Randy Garibay
- Andrew Carter, The News & Observer, 34 points
Woody Durham’s quiet fight, Part 1
UNC national championship team not visiting White House
UNC’s Luke Maye, often overlooked, now forever a part of the Tar Heels’ March lore
Jason Ray, UNC mascot and organ donor, left behind a legacy of life
How Larry Fedora saved a UNC med student’s graduation
- Ryan O’Halloran, The Florida Times-Union, 33 points
How it Happened: Through the Jaguars hiring process
Jaguars owner opposes Trump’s immigration policy
NFLPA looking into potential Jaguars violations
Wild Ride already: Jaguars look to sustain, build momentum
The Art Of The Strip-Sack: Jaguars DE Yannick Ngakoue takes us through the plays
- Mike Harrington, The Buffalo News, 27 points
Lehner unloads following 4-2 loss to Canucks
Bylsma looking ahead but how time does he have left?
Back to work for Botterill after one last celebration with Penguins
Denials aside, Housley makes move to demote Eichel
2008 Winter Classic at The Ralph: An oral history
- Jay Skurski, The Buffalo News, 23 points
Nathan Peterman vows to learn from disastrous first start
Team chaplain Len Vanden Bosch blends faith and football
Adolphus Washington works his way out of doghouse and into starting role with Bills
Lorenzo Alexander meets with fan to discuss bringing positive change to Buffalo News
Terry Pegula says Bills ‘ran a process’ that led to Doug Whaley’s firing
