CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In a ceremony at the Omni Hotel in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday night, the Sun Journal sports department received several accolades from the Associated Press Sports Editors, including a pair of first-place national awards.
The sports staff’s project commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston fight published in May 2015 finished tied for first place in the project reporting category among all news outlets in the Sun Journal’s circulation category.
The project, spearheaded by writer Kalle Oakes and Managing Editor Nights/Sports Justin Pelletier, also featured contributions from Fred Gage, Russ Dillingham, Carl Natale, C. Ernie Anderson and Lauren Schneiderman, and explored many facets — and faces — of the event that may have otherwise been lost.
“Three years running, the Sun Journal sports staff has created at least one project that has been among our country’s best,” Pelletier said. “It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication this staff has to top-quality journalism, and top-quality storytelling.”
Sun Journal photographer Daryn Slover received a first-place award Saturday in the “long video” category for his work on bringing the Tough Mountain Challenge to life in the summer of 2015.
Pelletier, Kathryn Skelton and Larry Gilbert Jr. earned second place in the country for their work on a breaking news story involving a chairlift rollback at Sugarloaf in the winter of 2015.
Also in breaking news, Oakes was honored with a sixth-place award for his story on Leavitt Area High School football player Adam Smith. In explanatory writing, Oakes earned seventh place for his work on a story about Dirigo High School’s uncanny knack for winning, a story called, “What makes Titletown tick?”
Pelletier earned 10th place in the country in column writing.
The Sun Journal’s Sunday sports section was also honored among the country’s 10 best in its size category. APSE does not rank the sections beyond choosing the top 10.
“It’s truly a humbling honor,” Pelletier said. “Our goal every day is to give our readers the best sports section we can with our time and resources such as they are, and to be recognized as one of the country’s best along the way is an added bonus.”
Judging for the contest was completed in February in St. Petersburg, Fla., and the list of top 10 finalists was revealed then.
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