Coverage of the future of amateurism in college sports wins AP story of the year honors

Associated Press

06-03-2025

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Associated Press Sports Writer Eddie Pells won Story of the Year and Deadline Writing honors in the annual contest for AP staffers judged by the Associated Press Editors.
Pells' work included a look at the state of amateurism in college sports and what lies ahead along with Noah Lyles capturing the 100-meters at the Paris Games.
The AP contest – voted recently on by a panel of APSE judges – recognized works from 2024. Other AP writers honored were:
— John Leicester and Hanna Arhirova, working with several AP staffers, captured the Package of the Year award for their work on the Ukraine Olympics project.
— Charles Odum captured the Feature Writing award with his story: Hank Aaron 715th homer 50-year anniversary story on Charlie Russo's fan video which previously had not been shown to the public.
— Howard Fendrich won the Grimsley Award for body of work, including stories:
Wimbledon players get a participation trophy, a silver plaque congratulating them for competing
'SNL' lampooned men in artistic swimming. Bill May could be the sport's first male Olympian
Leicester and Arhirova anchored the Ukraine Olympics project that won Package of the Year honors. They worked with several fellow AP staffers to get it done, including Susie Blann, Evgeniy Maloletka, Francisco Seco, Efrem Lukatsky, Vasilisa Stepanennko, Alex Babenko, Anton Shtuka and Volodymyr Yurchuk.
The goal of the Package of the Year category is to recognize AP's most ambitious journalism that includes strong narratives, alternative forms of storytelling in a digital presentation and strong use of social media to promote the work.
In the photo competition, Seco won Best Portfolio for his collection of work including Paris Olympics gymnastics action, championship boxing, Europa League soccer, kite surfing and feature series on Simone Biles during the Paris Olympics and an feature essay on Ukrainian high jumper Oleh Dorashchuk.
Seco also captured Feature Photo honors with his image of Turkish supporters celebrating a goal as they watch a Group F match between Turkey and Georgia at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament being played in Dortmund, Germany from a location in Kadikoy district in Istanbul.
Ashley Landis won Action Photo with her image of fans interfering with a foul ball caught by Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts during the first inning in Game 4 of the baseball World Series against the New York Yankees in New York.