Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports won first place in the 2025 Associated Press Sports Editors contest in the National Beat Writing category, which encompasses all divisions.
Contestants in the APSE’s national beat writing category entered four-part portfolios that included pieces of breaking news, event coverage, enterprise and a wild-card submission. Dellenger, a national college football writer, submitted a portfolio that detailed Lane Kiffin’s move from Ole Miss to LSU, Virginia’s upset of Florida State, an explanation of LSU football’s deep, sometimes-rocky ties with Louisiana’s top politicians and the quick, financially fueled rise of Texas Tech football.
APSE contest winners will be honored at the 2026 APSE Summer Conference banquet July 18 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va. You can register for the conference right here.
Dellenger will receive a first-place plaque. The second- through 10th-place finishers will receive frame-worthy certificates.
Sports editors submitted 20 entries in the national 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 committee determined nine finalists, with each judge ranking the entries in order from 1 to 9. The final nine were given to a second judging group in late February and March, ranking the entries from Nos. 1 to 9 in the same fashion.
The final rankings are determined by tallying the ballots.
The top nine 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. Ross Dellenger, Yahoo Sports 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
2. Dan Murphy, ESPN.com 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
3. Michael Silver, The Athletic 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
4. Adam Kilgore, The Washington Post 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
5. Gabby Herzig, The Athletic 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
6. Chelsea Janes, The Washington Post 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
7. Alexa Philippou, ESPN.com 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
8. Scott M. Reid, South California News Group 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
9. Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
