4 news organizations win 'Grand Slam' awards in Associated Press Sports Editors contest

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Four news organizations earned Grand Slam honors, and 11 others received Triple Crown recognition in the annual Associated Press Sports Editors contest.

The APSE contest – voted on by sports editors, writers and other journalists during judging in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, in late February and remotely from across the nation – honored the best sports journalism of 2024. In all, 178 organizations from across the United States entered the contest.

The categories for Grand Slam and Triple Crown recognition reflected the best print and digital work: a print portfolio combining weekday and Sunday sections; event coverage over a 48-hour span; project reporting; and digital content/presentation.

The Boston Globe, The Minnesota Star Tribune and The Washington Post were honored in the top 10 of all four categories in Division A, which includes the nation’s largest publications for daily print circulation and monthly unique website visitors. In Division C, the Lincoln Journal-Star of Nebraska finished in the top 10 in those categories.

The Los Angeles Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer claimed Triple Crown honors in Division A with top-10 finishes in three of the four categories. In Division B, Andscape, IndyStar, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Tennessean earned Triple Crowns. Division C Triple Crown winners were The Daily Memphian, The Florida Times-Union, The State of Columbia, S.C., and the Wisconsin State Journal. In Division D, The Tuscaloosa News won a Triple Crown.

Besides the Grand Slam/Triple Crown categories, news organizations received top-10 honors in a host of writing, photography, section and video storytelling categories. The organization with the most total honors in its division was The Washington Post, with 16 in Division A. It was followed by The Minnesota Star Tribune with 11 in Division A. The Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times each had 10 in Division A.

IndyStar led Division B with 11 top-10 finishes, followed by The Tennessean with 7. In Division C, the Lincoln Journal Star led with 12, followed by The State with 10. The Tuscaloosa News had the most wins in Division D with 10, followed by the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader with 8.

Winners will receive their awards at the annual APSE summer conference, scheduled for June 26-68 in Minneapolis.

Here are the results in the Triple Crown and Grand Slam categories, with winners listed in alphabetical order:

Division A

Digital

ESPN.com Los Angeles Times Newsday The Athletic The Boston Globe The Minnesota Star Tribune The Philadelphia Inquirer The San Francisco Chronicle The Seattle Times The Washington Post

Event Coverage

Bay Area News Group: Staff NJ Advance Media (Newark): Brian Fonseca, Steve Politi, Kevin Armstrong Southern California News Group: Bill Plunkett, Jim Alexander, Todd Harmonson, Mirjam Swanson, Jeff Fletcher The Boston Globe: Staff The Houston Chronicle: Kirk Bohls, Brent Zwerneman The Minnesota Star Tribune: Ben Goessling, Andrew Krammer, Chip Scoggins, Mark Craig, La Velle E. Neal III The Philadelphia Inquirer: Staff The Washington Post: Mark Maske, Adam Kilgore, Ben Strauss, Jerry Brewer, Sam Fortier USA Today Sports: Josh Peter, Dan Wolken, Ariana Torrey, Heather Tucker, Jim Sergent USA Today Network-Wisconsin: Tom Silverstein, Ryan Wood

Print Portfolio

Dallas Morning News Detroit Free Press Houston Chronicle Los Angeles Times Newsday The Boston Globe The Minnesota Star Tribune The Seattle Times The Advocate/The Times-Picayune (Baton Rouge/New Orleans) The Washington Post

Project Reporting

AL.com: Creg Stephenson Boston Globe: Staff ESPN.com: Sam Borden Los Angeles Times: Staff The Minnesota Star Tribune: Chip Scoggins NJ Advance Media (Newark): Kevin Armstrong The Philadelphia Inquirer: David Gambacorta, Aaron Carter, Gabe Coffey, Matt Breen The San Francisco Chronicle: John Shea USA Today Sports: Tom Schad, Josh Peter The Washington Post: Jerry Brewer

Division B

Digital

Advance Media NY (Syracuse) Andscape Las Vegas Review-Journal Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The Baltimore Sun The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) The Buffalo News The Des Moines Register The Salt Lake Tribune The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)

Event Coverage

Andscape: William C. Rhoden, Marc J. Spears, Ari Chambers, Jason Johnson IndyStar: Nathan Brown, Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Gregg Doyel, Nate Atkins Omaha World-Herald: Evan Bland, Sam McKewon, Tom Shatel, Wilson Moore The Baltimore Sun: Jeff Barker, Jean Marbella, Jacob Calvin Meyer, Dan Belson The Buffalo News: Katherine Fitzgerald, Ryan O’Halloran, Mark Gaughan, Michael Petro The Charlotte Observer: Scott Fowler, Mike Kaye, Alex Zietlow The Cincinnati Enquirer: Beryl Love, Jason Williams, Gordon Wittenmyer, Dave Clark and Scott Springer The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch: Staff The Kansas City Star: Staff The Tennessean: Aria Gerson, Gentry Estes, Alex Daugherty

Print Portfolio

IndyStar Omaha World-Herald Pittsburgh Post-Gazette San Antonio Express-News The Charlotte Observer The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) The Salt Lake Tribune The Oklahoman The Tennessean

Project Reporting

Andscape: Clinton Yates BamaCentral: Christopher Walsh IndyStar: Dustin Dopirak, Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Nate Atkins, Binghui Huang Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Gerry Dulac, Brian Batko, Jason Mackey, Joe Starkey San Antonio Express-News: Ronald Harrod, David Hinojosa The Baltimore Banner: Brandon Weigel The Cincinnati Enquirer: Gordon Wittenmyer, Keely Brown The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.): Andrew Carter, Robert Willett The Oregonian: Bill Oram The Tennessean: Paul Skrbina, Mike Organ

Division C

Digital

Idaho Statesman Lexington Herald-Leader Lincoln Journal Star PennLive/Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.) The Daily Memphian The Gazette (Colorado Springs) The News-Gazette (Champaign, Ill.) The Record (Bergen County, N.J.) The State (Columbia, S.C.) Wisconsin State Journal (Madison)

Event Coverage

Daytona Beach News-Journal: Ryan Pritt, Ken Willis, Chris Boyle and Chris Vinel Erie Times-News: Matt Allibone, Mike Copper, Jeff Uveino Idaho Statesman: Shaun Goodwin Lehigh Valley Live: Josh Folck, Kyle Craig, Saed Hindash Lincoln Journal Star: Staff Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Nathan Giese South Bend Tribune: Mike Berardino, Tom Noie, Austin Hough The Daily Memphian: Frank Bonner II, Tim Buckley, Parth Upadhyaya The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville): Garry Smits, Gene Frenette, Clayton Freeman, Juston Lewis The News-Press (Fort Myers, Fla.): Dan DeLuca, Dustin Levy, Alex Martin, Nick Wilson

Print Portfolio

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Lexington Herald-Leader Lincoln Journal Star South Bend Tribune The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville) The News-Press (Fort Myers, Fla.) The Roanoke Times The State (Columbia, S.C.) Wilmington (N.C.) StarNews Wisconsin State Journal (Madison)

Project Reporting (C and D projects were judged as a group and 10 total winners were selected)

Capital Gazette (Annapolis, Md.): Bill Wagner, Matt Weyrich, Katherine Fominykh Lehigh Valley Live: Nick Falsone, Kurt Bresswein, Saed Hindash, Matt Smith, Jessica Beym Lincoln Journal Star: Amie Just The Daily Memphian: Drew Hill The Florida Times-Union (Jacksonville): Clayton Freeman, Gene Frenette The Herald-Times (Bloomington, Ind.): Michael Niziolek The Patriot-Ledger (Quincy, Mass.): Chris McDaniel The Pine Belt News (Hattiesburg, Miss.): Andrew Abadie The State (Columbia, S.C.): Lou Bezjak, Joshua Boucher Wisconsin State Journal (Madison): Sean Davis, Nile McNair, Mark McMullen and Jon Masson

Division D

Digital (top 7 were selected)

Carroll County Times Journal & Courier (Lafayette, Ind.) Muddy River Sports Pocono Record Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader The Tuscaloosa News York (Pa.) Daily Record

Event Coverage

Burlington Free Press: Alex Abrami Columbia Daily Tribune: Calum McAndrew Marietta Daily Journal: John Bednarowski Southwest Times Record (Fort Smith, Arkansas): Jackson Fuller Springfield News-Leader (Mo.): Wyatt Wheeler The Bryan-College Station Eagle: Alex Miller, Travis L. Brown, Luke White The Patriot-Ledger (Quincy, Mass.): Jason Snow, Eric McHugh, Chris McDaniel, Ryan Vermette The Tuscaloosa News: Staff Visalia Times-Delta: Vongni Yang York (Pa.) Daily Record: Frank Bodani, Dan Rainville

Print Portfolio (top 7 were selected)

Carroll County Times Journal & Courier (Lafayette, Ind.) Marietta Daily Journal The Bryan-College Station Eagle The Herald-Times (Bloomington, Ind.) The Tuscaloosa News Wyoming Tribune Eagle (Cheyenne)