BY TOMMY DEAS
Maria McIlwain first discovered APSE when she was a student at Auburn University.
She was covering high school football for the Opelika-Auburn News, the local newspaper, under the direction of its sports editor at the time, Dana Sulonen. From Sulonen, McIlwain learned the value of APSE.
In the summer of 2016, while she was interning at the Anniston Star in Alabama after her senior year, McIlwain’s mother gave her an early birthday present: a trip to the APSE Summer Conference in Charlotte, N.C.
“Best. Present. Ever. I met and formed lasting bonds with luminaries of our craft and learned so much,” McIlwain said, “from how to format my résumé to story ideas — my internship’s big enterprise piece was based on an idea I’d gotten in Charlotte, about how Alabama high schools deal with concussions — to simply how to carry myself as a journalist. It’s also an incredible opportunity to stay on top of best practices, and I’ve taken strategies I’ve learned into every phase of my career.
“I think it’d be accurate to say I’ve grown up in APSE.”
McIlwain comes full circle this summer in Arlington, Va., when she will take office as APSE’s second vice president. She turns 32 the day before the organization’s summer conference. McIlwain is from Alexandria, Va., a 20-minute drive away.
She will serve as Second VP until the last day of the 2027 summer conference in Denver, when she will ascend to First VP and Contest Chair. Her tenure as APSE President will begin on the final day of the 2028 summer conference and end on the final day of the 2029 summer conference.
“Congratulations to Maria,” current APSE President Paul Barrett said. “I’m excited to see what she can accomplish, and we’re fortunate that she will help lead the organization and serve its members for three years.”
McIlwain lives in Cypress, Texas, just outside Houston, and works as multiplatform coordinator and the women’s sports editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
As multiplatform coordinator, she edits print copy and helps book the sports section. As women’s sports editor, she oversees coverage of women’s sports teams, athletes and their allies.
She also works with young journalists.
“We have a big internship program,” she said, “and I help mentor those student journalists, especially when they’re covering their schools’ women’s sports teams. I really love this part of the job, because it’s so satisfying to help the students grow as writers — and people, too! In fact, having a great mentor is kinda how I ended up here.”
As an APSE officer, McIlwain wants to help improve the organization’s finances and make it a wider resource for sports journalists. She wants others to experience the growth she has attained through APSE, citing Sulonen and the Philadelphia Inquirer sports department’s assistant managing editor as influencing her path.
“I know how isolating a journalist’s schedule and lifestyle can be, and especially in my first couple jobs, having regular contact with APSE members was so helpful, whether it was getting edits on a feature or just talking about life,” she said. “In fact, it was conversations with members that helped me take the plunge into a job in Texas and then making the jump from writer to editor.”
McIlwain’s vision for APSE goes beyond increasing membership. She wants it to grow in other ways.
“I hope to grow our membership and cement APSE as a resource for journalists from all backgrounds,” she said, “but particularly for those who are earlier in their careers, new to editing or in smaller newsrooms.
“But I don’t just want to get more people in the door; I want to keep people coming back, just like me!”
McIlwain met her now-husband, Jeff Perkins, when she joined The Bryan/College Station Eagle in Texas in 2017 as a high schools writer. They married in 2020. Perkins is an APSE member who is digital sports editor at the San Antonio Express-News.
“Outside of work, I’m probably reading nonfiction with a glass of red, trying a new recipe or restaurant, putting pictures of my three cats on Instagram, or watching the Washington Nationals lose,” McIlwain said.
