Stephanie Kuzydym of the Courier Journal in Louisville, Kentucky, won first place in the 2023 Associated Press Sports Editors contest in the Investigative category, which encompassed all divisions. Kuzydym’s series of stories looked into the safety of high school athletes in Kentucky and nationally when medical emergencies occur.
APSE contest winners will be honored at the 2024 APSE Summer Conference banquet at the Marriott South Park in Charlotte on June 22. Registration for the conference will open soon.
Kuzydym will receive a plaque. The second- through 10th-place finishers will receive frameable certificates.
Sports editors submitted 35 entries in the category. Contest chair Dan Spears and APSE officers Naila-Jean Meyers, Paul Barrett and Ed Reed prepared the entries.
Contest results: Sections, digital, video | Writing and photography
In February, judges at the APSE Winter Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and remote judges around the country selected a top 10, with each judge ranking the entries in order from 1 to 10. The final 10 were given to a second judging group, which ranked the entries 1 to 10 in the same fashion. The final rankings are determined by tallying the ballots.
The top 10 are listed, with first-place votes in parentheses, along with links to the winning entries.
The contest is open to APSE members. Click here to join.
1. Stephanie Kuzydym, Courier Journal (Louisville, Ky.). Safety for high-school athletes. (4) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
2. T.J. Quinn, Nicole Noren, ESPN.com. Death of Utah athlete Lauren McCluskey. (1) 1
3. Kenny Jacoby, USA TODAY Sports. Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
4. James Crepea, The Oregonian/OregonLive (Portland).Treatment of University of Oregon women athletes. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
5. Keith Sargeant, NJ Advance Media (Newark). Coach’s sexual misconduct on NJ high school wrestling. 1
6. Adam Sparks, Mike Wilson, Knoxville News Sentinel. University of Tennessee football. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
7. Jason Wolf, The Arizona Republic. NFL players’ non-profits. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
8. Barbara Laker, David Gambacorta, Marcus Hayes, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Veterans Stadium turf. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5
9. Nick Kelly, The Tuscaloosa News. University of Alabama men’s basketball. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
10. Samuel Hardiman, Geoff Calkins, Tim Buckley and Frank Bonner II, The Daily Memphian. Tennessee stadium funding. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
