Kyle Grabowski of MetroWest Daily News in Framingham, Massachusetts, won first place in the Division D 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. Grabowski entered a portfolio that included breaking news about a swim team forfeiting all of its wins because of a clerical error; a volleyball team’s five-set victory to clinch back-to-back state championships; a feature on a state-record hurdler who also serves as principal violinist for a youth philharmonic orchestra; and an enterprise piece in which local baseball players explain how they throw their best pitches.
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.
Grabowski will receive a first-place plaque. The second- through 10th-place finishers will receive frame-worthy certificates.
Sports editors submitted 48 entries in the Division D 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 192 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. Kyle Grabowski, MetroWest Daily News (4) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
2. Evan Gerike, Asheville Citizen Times (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
3. Amelia Hurley, The Tuscaloosa News 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
4. Jane Allison Havsy, Daily Record (Rockaway, N.J.) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
5. Anna Snyder, The Tuscaloosa News 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
6. Cecil Joyce, The Daily News Journal (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
7. Jose Quintero, Victorville Daily Press (1) 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
8. Brett Abrams, Redding Record Searchlight 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
9. Stephen Garcia, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
10. Ben Vessa, Metro Sports STL 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
