Charles Baggarly of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram; Dan DeLuca of the News-Press in Fort Myers, Florida; and Jared Peck of the Lexington Herald-Leader tied for first place in the Division C high school beat writing category of the 2025 Associated Press Sports Editors contest.
Contestants in the category submitted four-part portfolios that included pieces of breaking news, event coverage, enterprise and a wild-card submission. Baggarly, DeLuca and Peck tied in the aggregate scoring of two groups of judges. It is the only three-way tie for first place in the 2025 APSE contest and just one of three three-way ties in the contest, regardless of ranking.
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.
Baggarly, DeLuca and Peck will receive first-place plaques. The fourth- through 10th-place finishers will receive frame-worthy certificates.
Sports editors submitted 47 entries in the Division C high school 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 188 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.
T1. Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram (2) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
T1. Dan DeLuca, The News-Press (Fort Myers, Fla.) (2) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
T1. Jared Peck, Lexington Herald-Leader 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
4. Sean Farrell, The Record (Bergen, N.J.) (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
5. Chris Basnett, Lincoln Journal Star 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
6. Katherine Fominykh, Capital Gazette (Annapolis, Md.) (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
T7. Clayton Freeman, Florida Times-Union 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
T7. Luke Thompson, Yakima (Wash.) Herald-Republic 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
8. Lou Bezjak, The State (Columbia, S.C.) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
10. John Bednarowski, Marietta Daily Journal 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
