ORLANDO — The Sun Journal sports department fared well again in this year’s Associated Press Sports Editors contest, earning three awards in the nationwide competition.

Last summer’s effort to recount the history of the Oxford 250’s champions, led by Phil Whipple and including work from Justin Pelletier, Lee Horton and Wil Kramlich, earned an APSE Top 10 nod in the project reporting category. That body of work continued the department’s proud tradition of strong project work, a category in which they’ve placed in the APSE Top 10 in four consecutive years.

Horton was also recognized individually with a top 10 award in game story writing for his work on the final game of the Edward Little boys’ soccer team’s season last fall. Horton’s two awards this year were earned in his first six months with the team.

Photographer Daryn Slover was recognized with an APSE Top 5 award in the short-video category, for his work at the Oxford 250 last August. This is the second consecutive year Slover has earned an award in a video category.

Nationally, 13 media groups won “Grand Slam” honors. The Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Washington Post, competing in the over-175,000 circulation division, earned top-10 recognition for their daily, Sunday and special sections to go along with top 10 honors in the digital contest for website and mobile platforms.

The Indianapolis Star, The Oklahoman, Omaha World-Herald and St. Louis Post-Dispatch won in the 75,000-175,000 circulation category.

The Knoxville News-Sentinel won in the 30,000-75,000 category, while The Tuscaloosa News won in under-30,000 and the Charlottesville Daily Progress, Opelika-Auburn News and Wyoming Tribune Eagle all won in the under-15,000 category.

The APSE awards, voted on by sports editors and journalists from across the nation during four days of judging in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., honor work published in 2016.

Eleven newspapers won Triple Crowns, signifying top 10 honors in three of four section/website categories. Those include:

• Over 175,000 circulation: Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times.

• 75,0001-175,000: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Seattle Times, The Tennessean.

• 30,000-75,000: Lincoln Journal Star, Tulsa World.

• Under 30,000: Fort Collins Coloradoan, Beaver County Times

• Under 15,000: Laramie Boomerang.

The Washington Post led all news organizations with 16 total awards.

The New York Times and Seattle Times each earned 11, while the Indianapolis Star, Fort Collins Coloradoan and The Tuscaloosa News garnered 10 apiece.

Matt L. Stephens of the Fort Collins Coloradoan and Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald led the individual awards, capturing four each. Jon Blau of the Herald Times, Erik Bacharach of the Opelika-Auburn News, Austin Meek of The Register-Guard, Dirk Chatelain of the Omaha World-Herald, Ross Dellinger of The Advocate and Kent Babb of The Washington Post each earned three awards.

The APSE awards will be handed out at the organization’s annual conference and banquet in New Orleans in June, and before that time, the final rankings for each category will be announced.

Phil WhippleJustin PelletierDaryn Slover Copy the Story Link