Amie Just of the Lincoln Journal Star won first place in the Division C 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. Just, who covers Nebraska athletics, entered a portfolio that included breaking news on quarterback Dylan Raiola, who suffered a season-ending leg injury; coverage of a five-set loss that ended the No. 1-ranked Nebraska volleyball team’s 33-game winning streak in the Elite Eight; a long feature on wrestler Antrell Taylor, heartbroken and motivated by the deaths of his father and brother to become a national champion; and a profile on men’s basketball coach Fred Hoiberg, who pondered his life 20 years from his first open-heart surgery.
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.
Just will receive a first-place plaque. The second- through 10th-place finishers will receive frame-worthy certificates.
Sports editors submitted 52 entries in the Division C 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 208 total pieces in the category and determined 10 finalists, with each judge ranking the entries in order from 1 to 10. The final 10 were given to a second judging group in late February and March, ranking the entries from Nos. 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. Amie Just, Lincoln Journal Star (2) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
2. Taylor Eldridge, Wichita Eagle (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
3. Christian Caple, On Montlake (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
4. Adam Sparks, Knoxville News Sentinel (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
5. Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
T6. Drew Hill, The Daily Memphian 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
T6. Kellis Robinett, Wichita Eagle 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
8. Art Stapleton, The Record (Bergen, N.J.) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
9. Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
10. Pete Caldera, The Record (Bergen, N.J.) (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
