Perryn Keys, President
Perryn Keys was named sports editor of The Buffalo News in the summer of 2024.
As the leader of The Advocate’s sports department from 2019-2024, Keys’ department was at the forefront of sports betting coverage, developed young writers into some of the industry’s best. He also led strong (and zoned!) print editions in Baton Rouge to focus on colleges, and New Orleans where the focus shifts toward the pros, and set a standard for how to cover a major university, LSU, that excels in high profile sports like football, basketball and baseball.
Erik Hall, First Vice President
Erik Hall is the managing editor of The Telegraph in Alton, Illinois, where he leads coverage across news and sports. He previously served as digital sports editor at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, lead sports producer for the USA TODAY Network, and assistant sports editor at both The Roanoke (Virginia) Times and Columbia Missourian.
Hall served on the APSE Foundation board from 2023-25, was the Southeast Region chair and vice chair from 2019–23, and is a graduate of the APSE Diversity Fellowship program. In 2023, he spearheaded a video project interviewing more than 20 past APSE presidents to mark the organization’s 50th anniversary.
Beyond APSE, Hall was named the 2017 LGBTQ+ Journalist of the Year by NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists. Hall holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois and a master’s in journalism from the University of Missouri.
Maria McIlwain, Second Vice President
Maria McIlwain is the senior editor for sports copy editing at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where she manages trending sports and directs women’s sports coverage. In addition to other roles at The Inquirer, she also has worked at the Houston Chronicle, The Bryan-College Station (Texas) Eagle, and The Manhattan (Kan.) Mercury. Her work also has appeared in The Anniston (Ala.) Star and Opelika-Auburn News.
McIlwain was part of APSE’s 10th class of Diversity Fellows and is a student chapter coordinator with AWSM. McIlwain was APSE’s Southwest Region vice-chair and chair from 2020-22 and was the West Region vice-chair in 2025-26. She graduated from Auburn in 2016.
Lauren Jennings, Third Vice President
LJennings@usatodayco.com
Lauren Jennings has been with USA Today Co. since 2018 and is a sports editor overseeing the west region for the Center for Community Journalism.
Over the last eight years, Jennings has covered sports and breaking news, including natural disasters, protests and more. She previously covered education and business at the Visalia Times-Delta and had a stint at the Daily Independent in Ridgecrest, where she covered local high school and college sports, as well as California’s largest earthquake in over 20 years.
She is a Gruner Award recipient and honorable mention, and a former APSE diversity and EWA (Education Writers’ Association) fellow.
Bill Eichenberger, Executive Director
billapse707@gmail.com
Bill Eichenberger was APSE president in 2003-04 when he was the sports editor at Newsday, and he currently is an editor at Sportico. Other stops during his career include the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Bleacher Report, the Wall Street Journal, the Akron Beacon Journal and Macon Telegraph.
He is a graduate of the University of Georgia.
John Bednarowski, Conference Coordinator
John Bednarowski, APSE president for 2018-19, is the longtime sports editor at the Marietta Daily Journal in Georgia. He also started the APSE Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit that runs the APSE Fellowship Program and organizes fundraising efforts. He also previously was the APSE Southeast Region chair and third vice president.