By Mike Sherman, APSE First Vice President/Contest Chair
David Fairbank of the Daily Press in Newport News, Va. took first place in Feature Writing for the 30,000 to 75,000 circulation category in the 2013 Associated Press Sports Editor contest.
Fairbank, who received four of seven first-place votes, for his story on a William & Mary assistant baseball coach who survived a harrowing fall, will be presented a first-place plaque at the 2014 APSE Banquet June 28 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.
Dan DeFrancesco of The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., received the other three first-place votes for his story on how volleyball eased the life transition of a transgendered athlete. Billy Watkins of The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. placed third for his story about a Mississippi high school team’s struggle to overcome the accidental death of two teammates. The top 10 is listed below with links to each writers’ Twitter pages and entries.
Sports editors in the 30,000 to 75,000 circulation category submitted 129 Feature entries. Contest catchers 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 early March, preliminary judges at the APSE Winter Conference in Indianapolis 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 1 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 Feature category is judged on human interest, reader interest, quality of writing and thoroughness of reporting. Each member news organization was permitted up to three entries in this category.
The contest is open to APSE members. Go to this link to join.
2013 APSE Contest: Feature story, 30,000 to 75,000 circulation
(First-place votes in parentheses)
1. David Fairbank, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.), (4), 61 points
William and Mary's Tutwiler survives 'miracle' ordeal and recovery
2. Dan DeFrancesco, The Journal News (White Plains, N.Y.), (3), 54 points
Volleyball eases transgender player's transition
3. Billy Watkins, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Miss.), 47 points
Pascagoula football team coping, pushing forward five months after players' deaths
4. Marcus Jackson, The News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.), 41 points
Brody still benefiting from leap of faith
5. Scott Dochterman, The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa), 38 points
Chris Street’s legacy endures at Iowa, 20 years later
6. Kenny Ryan, Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times, 35 points
7. (tie) Phil Barber, The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Calif.), 32 points
Catching up, finally, with Amber Trotter
(tie) Scott Michaux, The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, 32 points
9. Greg Rajan, Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times, 24 points
Chasing the dream: Former Hooks broadcaster Matt Hicks takes long road to majors
10. Eric Hansen, South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, 21 points
Notre Dame football: Nix’s future comes with a big smile
(Mike Sherman, APSE first vice president and contest chair, is sports editor of The Oklahoman. Email him at msherman@opubco.com, follow him at @MikeSherman or call 405-475-3164.)
