John Bednarowski of the Marietta Daily Journal won first place in the Associated Press Sports Editors 2019 contest for column writing in the D Division.
Bednarowski will be presented with his first-place plaque at the 2020 APSE Summer Conference Banquet on June 27 at The Alexander hotel in Indianapolis.
Matt Tait of the Lawrence Journal-World finished second.
Contest chair Lisa Wilson and fellow APSE officers Todd M. Adams, Gary Potosky and Dan Spears prepared the entries. Sports editors in the D Division submitted 25 entries in the category.
Click here to join and enter the contest for 2020.
In February, preliminary judges at the APSE Winter Conference in St. Petersburg, Fla., and off-site around the country, 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 one 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 winner in each category will receive a plaque at the summer conference. The second- through 10th-place writers will receive frameable certificates.
Column writing consists of four articles per entry, with no restriction on subject matter and no requirement that they appear regularly. Columns are judged based on style, writing quality, originality and local appeal.
A list of the Top 10:
1. John Bednarowski, Marietta Daily Journal, 50 points (3 first-place votes) — Links 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
2. Matt Tait, Lawrence Journal-World, 45 points — Links 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
3. Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 40 points (3 first-place votes) — Links 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
4. Scott Chancey, The Florence Morning News, 37 points — Links 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
5. Jeremy Price, The Herald-Times (Bloomington, Ind.), 32 points — Links 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
6. (tie) Travis Lazarczyk, Kennebec Journal, 29 points — Links 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
6. (tie) Mitch Rupert, Williamsport Sun-Gazette, 29 points — Links 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
8. Ryne Dennis, Athens Banner-Herald, 28 points — Links 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
9. Carlos Silva Jr., Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 23 points — Links 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
10. Tyler Poslosky, Wyoming Tribune Eagle (Cheyenne), 17 points — Links 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
