By Robert Gagliardi
APSE Third Vice President
Cody Stavenhagen of the Tulsa World won first place in the Associated Press Sports Editors 2016 contest in Beat Writing category for the 30,000-75,000 circulation division.
Stavenhagen won for his coverage of University of Oklahoma football.. He will be presented a first-place plaque at the 2017 APSE banquet. The banquet and awards dinner will conclude the APSE Summer Conference, which takes place June 26-29 at The Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans.
Stavenhagen beat out runner-up Chris Thomas of the Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel. Tom Schad of The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., placed third.
Sports editors in the Under 30,000 category submitted 69 Beat Writing entries. The contest is open to APSE members. Click here to join.
Contest chair Jeff Rosen and fellow APSE officers Tommy Deas, John Bednarowski and Robert Gagliardi 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 February, preliminary judges at the APSE Winter Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and off-site around the country, 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 beat writing category judges a portfolio of five stories by a single author that shows authoritative, newsy and innovative coverage of a beat. Entries included at least one breaking news story; one event or game coverage story; one enterprise piece and two wild-card stories from any of the aforementioned categories (or other stories or analysis related to the beat).
The top 10 is listed below, with links to writers’ Twitter pages, APSE member websites and winning entries.
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Cody Stavenhagen, Tulsa World, 49 points (3 first-place votes)
How three strong Miami women helped Thomas find belonging in Norman
Something has to change
When it comes to Mayfield and Lubbock, nothing is simple
Record books rewritten in Mayfield’s return to Lubbock
Twice arrested on domestic violence complaints, Westbook’s compliated route to stardom
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Chris Thomas, Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel, 48 points (1 first-place vote)
Student blackmailed ex-South-Doyal coach, wife over ‘compromising photographs’
Gibbs football helps Merrell family heal
Maryville QB Austin Ensley works to regain trust
Bearden softball tries to rebuild with questions still unanswered
Fulton boys hold off Brainerd rally to win state title
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Tom Schad, The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., 34 points
Norvell praises Tiger spirit in 48-44 defeat of Houston
Memphis football embraces virtual reality
Shots fired at Tiger player’s car after incident with teammate
All access: Inside Memphis’ Lambuth football camp, dodgeball and all
Riding along on a Memphis football recruiting trip
4t. Michael Bonner, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Miss.), 33 points (1 first-place vote)
Sources: John Cohen to be named MSU’s next athletic director
MSU caps up-and-down season with blowout Egg Bowl win
Mother knows best: the lives of student-athlete moms
Relentless: Peter Sirmon’s journey from Walla Walla to MSU
Can a new court help fix Mississippi State basketball?
4t. Christian Caple, Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune, 33 points
Tacoma native hired as University of Washington athletic director
How Michael Porter’s friendship with Lorenzo Romar landed him on UW staff
Pac-12 champs: Huskies dominate Colorado
The making of Markelle Fultz
Fans have reason to be irked by Pac-12 Network’s emphasis on localized content
4t. David Caraviello, Post & Courier (Charleston, S.C.), 33 points
For Muschamp and USC, winning back the state starts with winning over high school coaches
Basketball celebrity
Birmingham Bowl’s timeless Legion Field may be running out of time
Sioux Falls stunner
Suspended USC basketball player arrested in May on Marijuana charge
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Jacob Thorpe, The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.), 30 points
WSU defensive lineman Robert Barber expelled
Washington State beats Oregon in convincing fashion
Gabe Marks is an oratorical All-American
After testicular cancer diagnoses and losing his parents, Sorensen seeing his way through
Martin rises from The Muck to excel at Washington State
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Brent Briggeman, The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.), 29 points
Air Force football legend Dee Dowis dies in Georgia traffic accident
Policy shift allows Air Force Academy grads to pursue pro sports without 2-year commitment
Grieving Hayden Graham overcomes emotion to lift Air Force past New Mexico
Air Force noted academics, athletics and stressed broad reach in pitch to Big 12
Air Force adds women’s boxing to keep up with new gender equity rules in combat roles
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Aaron Kasinitz, The Patriot News/PennLive.com, 26 points (1 first-place vote)
NFL’s Rooney Rule hasn’t fixed black coaching issue even as focus turns to women
Eagles’ Nigel Bradham broke hotel employee’s nose on Miami Beach, police say
Despite renewed spirit, Eagles left to pick up pieces after latest heartbreak
Young, black or new to NFL: Time to fight for a cause or try to fit in?
Eagles OT Lane Johnson’s saga, and what it says about modern-day drug testing
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Donnie Webb, Syracuse Media Group, 15 points
