Hampton University graduate Wynton Jackson and North Carolina graduate Shelby Swanson tied for first place in the 2025 APSE student contest, sharing top honors as judged by a panel of sports editors.
Students submitted portfolios comprising three pieces. Entries came from undergraduate or graduate students enrolled at a college or university during summer 2024, fall 2024 or spring 2025 academic terms. Work came from the period of April 10, 2024, through April 10, 2025.
Jackson’s winning entries included a feature on how Packers cornerback Eric Stokes and other teammates maintained and cared for their dreadlocks in Green Bay, Wisconsin; how Pittsburgh Pirates ace pitcher Paul Skenes met the late Bob Uecker before his 1-0 shutout of the Brewers; and how sports gambling has impacted the student body at Hampton University.
Jackson, a Cincinnati native, graduated from Hampton this spring. He just started working as a high schools reporter at the Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel.
Swanson’s winning entries included a feature on an affordable, expansive soccer league for Latino youth in North Carolina; a nail-biting UNC men’s basketball win over Pitt in February; and how the UNC baseball team paid tribute to a late fan at the College World Series last summer.
Swanson, a native of Durham, N.C., graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill this spring. She is wrapping up an internship this summer at the Minnesota Star Tribune in Minneapolis, where she dropped in on the APSE summer conference last month.
Jackson and Swanson edged out Noah Weiskopf, a native of greater Cleveland and recent graduate of Ohio State, who finished third in the student contest.
A pair of students from the University of Florida, Liana Handler and Jackson Castellano, rounded out the top five.
Previous winners of the annual APSE student contest have included George Stoia (University of Oklahoma), Kelli Stacy (Oklahoma), Emily Giambalvo (Georgia), Lila Bromberg (Maryland), Lia Assimakopoulos (Northwestern), Evan Gerike (Indiana) and last year’s winner, Colin Beazley (Villanova), who now covers the Pirates for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
APSE congratulates the students who entered the contest and recognizes the following journalists who placed in the top 10:
T1. Wynton Jackson, Hampton
T1. Shelby Swanson, North Carolina
3. Noah Weiskopf, Ohio State
4. Liana Handler, Florida
5. Jackson Castellano, Florida
6. Mitchell Fink, Boston University
T7. Caleb Jarreau, Tennessee
T7. Noah White, Florida
9. Gabriel Jackson, Tennessee
10. Noah Douglas, Nebraska
