Fletcher Page of the Athens (Ga.) Banner Herald has won first place in the APSE Under 30,000 Feature writing circulation category.

Page won for his feature on Billy Bennett, a former Georgia Bulldogs placekicker who overcame a drug problem. Page will be presented with a first-place plaque at the 2016 APSE banquet. The banquet and awards dinner concludes the APSE Conference June 22-25 at the Omni-Charlotte in Charlotte, N.C.

Ryan Holmgren of the Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune placed second. Joel Reichenberger of the Steamboat Pilot & Today finished in third.

Sports editors in the Under 30,000 category submitted 226 feature entries. The contest is open to APSE members. Click here to join.

Contest chair Tommy Deas numbered each entry, assuring they had been stripped of headlines, graphics, bylines and any other element that would identify the writer or news organization.

In late February and early March, preliminary judges at the APSE Winter Conference at Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, 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 down to one point for a 10th­-place vote. 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 top 10 is listed below with links to writers’ Twitter pages, APSE member websites and winning entries.

  1. Fletcher Page, Athens (Ga.) Banner Herald, 45 points, 3 first-place votes

The ballad of Billy Bennett

 

  1. Ryan Holmgren, Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, 44 points

Wyoming punter Ethan Wood finds escape, meaning in football after parents’ tragic deaths

 

  1. Joel Reichenberger, Steamboat Pilot & Today, 42 points

The day Steamboat shook: Buddy Werner’s death changed Steamboat forever

 

  1. Scott Sandsberry, Yakima (Ore.) Herald-Republic, 39 points

Oregon’s Peebles lives to ride again

 

  1. Nathan Baird, Lafayette (Ind.) Journal & Courier, 39 points, 1 first-place vote

McCutcheon grad turning life around after prison

 

  1. Mike Vorel, Casper (Wyo.) Star-Tribune, 38 points, 1 first-place vote

Fighting for two families: Wyoming safety Xavier Lewis finds purpose after stroke

 

  1. Lauren Kirschman, Beaver County Times, 30 points, 1 first-place vote

Born without lower legs, Congolese soccer player finds a home at Blackhawk

 

  1. Alex Byington, Decatur Daily, 25 points

Displaced by Hurricane Katrina, Sylve finds peace at Alabama

 

  1. Daniel Pauling, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 19 points

Tech gives Corey Dauphine a way to escape tough childhood

 

  1. Marc Weiszer, Athens (Ga.) Banner Herald, 12 points

Five years later, former UGA athletic director Damon Evans ‘in a good place’ back in college athletics

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