Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette won first place in the Division B long feature category of the 2025 Associated Press Sports Editors contest.
Hiles’ winning entry not only recalled a moment from 2005 when then-Steelers linebacker James Harrison suplexed a drunken Browns fan, Nate Mallett, who’d gotten loose on the field during a game in Cleveland; it told the story of a 20-year reunion for Harrison and Mallett — and how Harrison’s hit ultimately led to a turnaround in Mallett, who later quit drinking and achieved 16 years of continued sobriety.
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.
Hiles will receive a first-place plaque. The second- through 10th-place finishers will receive frame-worthy certificates.
Sports editors submitted 62 entries in the Division B long feature 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 committee 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. Noah Hiles, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (3)
2. Shelby Swanson, The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) (2)
3. Nate Atkins, IndyStar
4. Tom D’Angelo, The Palm Beach Post
5. Max Ralph, PennLive/Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.)
6. Ryan Clarke, The Oregonian
7. David Cloninger, The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.)
8. Bill Oram, The Oregonian (1)
T9. Dave Boling, The Spokesman-Review
T9. Chris Mason, MassLive.com/TheRepublican (Springfield, Mass.)
