3 news organizations win 'Grand Slam' honors in Associated Press Sports Editors contest
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Three organizations earned Grand Slam recognition, while nine others were awarded a Triple Crown in the annual Associated Press Sports Editors contest.
The APSE contest – voted on by sports editors and writers at judging in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, in late February and remotely from across the nation – honored the best sports journalism of 2023. In all, 169 news organizations from across the United States entered the contest.
To represent the digital-first focus of today’s sports departments, APSE chose four categories for Grand Slam and Triple Crown recognition: a print portfolio combining weekday and Sunday offerings; event coverage over a 48-hour span; project reporting; and digital presentation.
In Division A, which includes the nation’s largest publications for daily print circulation and monthly unique visitors digitally, the Los Angeles Times was honored in the top 10 of all four categories. In Division B, the Courier Journal of Louisville, Kentucky, and the Omaha World-Herald finished in the top 10 in those categories.
The New York Times was a Triple Crown winner in Division A by placing in the top 10 of three of the four categories, along with Newsday and The Denver Post. In Division B, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and The Kansas City Star earned Triple Crowns. Division C winners were the Lincoln Journal Star, the Wisconsin State Journal of Madison and The News Press, of Fort Myers, Florida. In Division D, The Tuscaloosa News took home a Triple Crown.
In addition to the Grand Slam categories, news organizations received top-10 honors in a host of writing, photography and video storytelling categories. The organization with the most total honors in its division was the Lincoln Journal Star of Nebraska, with 14 in Division C. It was followed by The Daily Memphian and The State, of Columbia, S.C., with 10 each in Division C.
In Division A, The Washington Post led with 13, followed by NJ Advance Media of Newark with 12 and The Boston Globe with 9. In Division D, The Tuscaloosa News had the most wins with 12, followed by The Bryan-College Station Eagle of Texas with 8.
In a balanced Division B, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Knoxville News Sentinel had nine top finishes, followed by five organizations with eight: Andscape; the Courier Journal of Louisville, Kentucky; the Omaha World-Herald; The Buffalo News; and The Salt Lake Tribune.
Winners will receive their awards at the annual APSE summer conference, scheduled for June 20-22 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Here are the results in the Triple Crown and Grand Slam categories, with winners listed in alphabetical order:
Division A
Digital
FloSports; Los Angeles Times; Newsday; The Boston Globe; The Dallas Morning News; The Denver Post; The New York Times; The Philadelphia Inquirer; The Seattle Times; The Washington Post.
Event Coverage
Los Angeles Times: Staff; Newsday: Tom Rock, Al Iannazzone; NJ Advance Media (Newark): Brian Fonseca, Pat Lanni, Kevin Armstrong, Steve Politi, Todderick Hunt; Southern California News Group: Luca Evans, Mirjam Swanson, Jim Alexander, James Williams, Haley Sawyer; Star Tribune (Minneapolis): Staff; The Advocate/The Times-Picayune (Baton Rouge/New Orleans): Reed Darcey, Jim Kleinpeter, Scott Rabalais, Wilson Alexander, Patrick Magee; The Arizona Republic: Nick Piecoro, Theo Mackie, Jenna Ortiz, Greg Moore; The Athletic: Joe Buscaglia, Tim Graham, Richard Deitsch, Jourdan Rodrigue, Mike DeFabo; The New York Times: Sopan Deb, Tania Ganguli, Sean Catangui, Leo Dominguez; The Philadelphia Inquirer: Staff.
Print Portfolio
Los Angeles Times; Newsday; Star Tribune (Minneapolis); The Advocate/The Times-Picayune (Baton Rouge/New Orleans); The Boston Globe; The Dallas Morning News; The Denver Post; The San Francisco Chronicle; The Seattle Times; The Washington Post.
Project Reporting
ESPN.com: Mike Fish; FloSports: Tim Truex, Michael Rigsby, Jeremy Hayes, David Coone, Paul Gandersman; Los Angeles Times: Staff; NJ Advance Media (Newark): Matt Stanmyre; The Arizona Republic: Staff; The Athletic: Tashan Reed, Mike Smeltz; The Denver Post: Patrick Saunders, Kyle Newman, Sean Keeler and Matt Schubert; The New York Times: Kassie Bracken, John Branch, Ben Laffin, Rebecca Lieberman and Joe Ward; The San Francisco Chronicle: Ron Kroichick, Marisa Ingemi, Connor Letourneau; USA TODAY Sports: Dan Wolken and staff.
Division B
Digital
Andscape; Courier Journal (Louisville, Ky.); Las Vegas Review-Journal; MassLive.com/The Republican (Springfield, Mass.); Omaha World-Herald; San Antonio Express-News; The Blade (Toledo, Ohio); The Kansas City Star; The Salt Lake Tribune; The Tennessean (Nashville).
Event Coverage
Courier Journal (Louisville, Ky.): Jason Frakes, C.L. Brown, Brooks Holton, Ryan Black, staff; IndyStar: Nathan Brown, Gregg Doyel, Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Zach Osterman, Clark Wade; Knoxville News Sentinel: Adam Sparks, Brianna Paciorka; Las Vegas Review-Journal: Brett Clarkson, Sam Gordon, Ben Gotz, Ed Graney and David Schoen; Omaha World-Herald: Tom Shatel, Sam McKewon, Marjie Ducey and Mike Patterson; San Antonio Express-News: Mike Finger, Tom Orsborn and Jeff McDonald; Sellout Crowd: Berry Tramel, Jenni Carlson, Guerin Emig, Eli Lederman; The Buffalo News: Staff; The Kansas City Star: Vahe Gregorian, Sam McDowell, Jesse Newell, Blair Kerkhoff; The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.): Chip Alexander, Luke DeCock, Andrew Carter, Justin Pelletier, Ethan Hyman, Robert Willett.
Print Portfolio
Courier Journal (Louisville, Ky.); IndyStar (Indianapolis); Knoxville News Sentinel; Las Vegas Review-Journal; Omaha World-Herald; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; The Buffalo News; The Oklahoman; The Salt Lake Tribune.
Project Reporting
Advance Media NY: Staff; Andscape: Andscape/ESPN Staff; Courier Journal (Louisville, Ky.): Stephanie Kuzydym; Lexington Herald-Leader: John Clay, Mathew Graf, Marcus Dorsey, Brian Simms; MassLive.com/The Republican (Springfield): Karen Guregian, Matt Vautour, Sean McAdam, Chris Mason, Mark Daniels; Omaha World-Herald: Evan Bland, Henry Cordes, Tom Shatel, Sam McKewon; Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Jerry DiPaola and Bill Schackner; The Charlotte Observer: Loumay Alesali, Scott Fowler, Jeff Siner, Kata Stevens, Alex Zietlow; The Kansas City Star: Staff; The Tennessean (Nashville): Mike Organ, Em Poertner.
Division C
Digital
Daytona Beach News-Journal; Lincoln Journal Star; The South Bend Tribune; The Daily Memphian; The Gazette (Colorado Springs); The Champaign News-Gazette; The Record (Bergen, N.J.); The State (Columbia, S.C.); The Wichita Eagle; Wisconsin State Journal.
Event Coverage
Columbia Daily Tribune: Chris Kwiecinski, Calum McAndrew and Abigail Landwehr; Daytona Beach Journal: Ryan Pritt, Ken Willis, Chris Boyle, Chris Vinel, Dan Rorabaugh; Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Staff; Green Bay Press-Gazette: Staff; The Greenville (S.C.) News: Emily Adams; The News-Press (Fort Myers, Fla.): Dustin Levy, Ed Reed, Alex Martin, Dan DeLuca, Nick Wilson; The Scranton Times-Tribune: Joby Fawcett, Donnie Collins; The South Bend Tribune: Mike Berardino, Tom Noie, Austin Hough, Michael Wanbaugh, Gayle Bell; The State (Columbia, S.C.): Michael Lananna and Chapel Fowler; The Wichita Eagle: Kellis Robinett, Taylor Eldridge.
Print Portfolio
Lincoln Journal Star; The Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.); The News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.); The News-Press, Fort Myers, Fla.; Wisconsin State Journal (Madison)
Project Reporting
Go Long: Tyler Dunne; JohnCanzano.com: John Canzano; Lincoln Journal Star: Amie Just; The Daily Memphian: Drew Hill; The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville): Garry Smits; The Gazette (Colorado Springs): Luke Zahlmann; The News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.): Matt Daniels; The News-Press (Fort Myers, Fla.): Alex Martin, Nick Wilson, Ed Reed; The Scranton Times-Tribune: Donnie Collins, Conor Foley; Wisconsin State Journal (Madison): Jake Kocorowski, Todd D. Milewski, Jim Polzin, Christopher Doyle
Division D
Digital
Redding Record Searchlight; Rockford (Ill.) Register-Star; Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader; The Aegis (Harford County, Md.); The Tuscaloosa News; Wyoming Tribune Eagle (Cheyenne); York (Pa.) Daily Record.
Event Coverage
Grand Forks Herald: Tom Mille; Journal & Courier (Lafayette, Ind.): Sam King; Marietta Daily Journal: John Bednarowski; Muddy River Sports, Matt Schuckman; Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine): Nathan Fournier, Steve Collins, Joe Charpentier, Lee Horton; The Bryan-College Station Eagle: Travis L. Brown, Alex Miller, Robert Cessna, Meredith Seaver; The Herald-Times (Bloomington, Ind.): Michael Niziolek, Jim Gordillo; The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Kelly, Mikey DiLullo, Max Donaldson; Tide Illustrated: Tony Tsoukalas, Jack Knowlton, Dean Harrell; York (Pa.) Daily Record: Frank Bodani, Matt Allibone, Dan Rainville.
Print Portfolio
Carroll County Times; Capital-Gazette (Annapolis, Md.); The Bryan-College Station Eagle; The Daily Advertiser (Lafayette, La.); The Tuscaloosa News; Yakima Herald-Republic
Project Reporting (C and D projects were judged as a group and 10 total winners were selected)
Amarillo Globe-News: Hart Pisani; Athens Banner-Herald: Marc Weiszer; Capital Gazette (Annapolis, Md.): Bill Wagner, Katherine Fominykh; Daily Record (Rockaway, N.J.): Jane Allison Havsy, Mitsu Yasukawa, Anne-Marie Caruso; Mansfield (Ohio) News Journal: Jake Furr; Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader: Wyatt Wheeler; Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism/Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, University of Maryland: Staff.
