Adam Cole of the Montgomery Advertiser won first place in the Division D team beat writing category of the 2025 Associated Press Sports Editors contest.
Contestants in the team beat writing category submitted four-part portfolios that included pieces of breaking news, event coverage, enterprise and a wild-card submission.
Cole, who covers Auburn athletics, entered a portfolio that included breaking news on a chaotic gate-storming incident that left six people injured before ESPN’s “College College GameDay” broadcast at an Auburn men’s basketball game; a behind-the-scenes look at “The Jungle Village” student campsite before an Auburn-Alabama men’s basketball game; a look back at some legendary tales of Bo Jackson’s time at Auburn, as told by those who were there to see it; and a feature on kicker Alex McPherson’s battle with ulcerative colitis.
APSE contest winners will be honored at the 2026 APSE Summer Conference banquet July 18 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va. Registration for the conference is open; you can register right here.
Cole will receive a first-place plaque. The second- through 10th-place finishers will receive frame-worthy certificates.
Sports editors submitted 30 entries in the Division D team beat writing category. Contest chair Perryn Keys and APSE officers Paul Barrett, Erik Hall and Tony Maluso prepared the entries.
Contest results: Digital, print and podcasts | Writing and photography
Judges convened in late February, in person at the APSE Winter Conference in Las Vegas and remotely around the nation, to select the top entrants. The first group read 120 total pieces in the category and determined finalists, with each judge ranking the entries in order. The finalists were given to a second judging group in late February and March, ranking the entries from Nos. 1 to 9 in the same fashion.
The final rankings are determined by tallying the ballots.
The top nine 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. Adam Cole, Montgomery Advertiser (3) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
2. Brett Vito, Denton Record-Chronicle (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
T3. Lulu Kesin, Greenville News 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
T3. Jackson Fuller, Southwest Times Record (Fort Smith, Ark.) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
T5. Calum McAndrew, Columbia Daily Tribune (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
T5. Brad Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
7. Alex Miller, Bryan-College Station Eagle 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
8. Anna Snyder, Fayetteville Observer (N.C.) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
9. Emilee Smarr, Tuscaloosa News 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
