NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Sports Writers Association announced winners in its annual writing contest on Monday, which includes stories written between Jan. 1, 2024 and Dec. 31, 2024. Special thanks to Ron Higgins for coordinating the judging of the contest again this year.
TSWA 2025 WRITING CONTEST RESULTS
(Stories written between Jan. 1, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2024)
DIVISION 1
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. John Varlas, The Daily Memphian 2. Parth Upadhyaya, The Daily Memphian 3. Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press.
Judges’ comment: "No other writer in this category had the depth, the clarity, the flow, and the brevity of the first-place winner. He understands how to drop bits and pieces of characters into stories without overwriting. His quotes were precise. All three of his stories were among the best in the category. The best memorial tribute (on the passing of legendary Memphis high school basketball coach Terry Tippett), the best bittersweet farewell (the Memphis pro soccer franchise suddenly relocating to California), and the best “remember when” story (on the Melrose High basketball dynasty)."
BEST COLUMNIST – 1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel 2. Tim Buckley, The Daily Memphian 3. Stephen Hargis, The Chattanooga Times-Free Press.
Judges’ comments: "The winner of this category won by a landslide. His column on which is the better UT – Texas or Tennessee? – was hilarious. His column on UT’s Chancellor changing personalities to deal twice with the NCAA on different matters was insightful. His column on Vols’ head baseball coach Tony Vitello was a spot-on assessment of what makes Vitello so good. Every column was straight opinion, not features disguised as opinions."
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Tim Buckley, The Daily Memphian. 2. Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press 3. John Varlas, The Daily Memphian.
Judges’ comments: "It’s not just the variety of subjects that the winner wrote, from a former Memphis area player’s long, hard from road to numerous schools and drug use and rehab leading to the ministry, as well as the resurrection of the Memphis City Amateur golf tourney and the last-minute official scorer sub in an NCAA regional tourney in Memphis. It’s also the writer who got out of the way of the story. He guided each story deftly, letting the subjects carry the narrative. For a writer, that’s not as easy as you think. It’s an acquired skill through years of experience."
BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 2 Drew Hill, The Daily Memphian. 3. Adam Sparks, Knoxville News-Sentinel
BEST NEWS WRITER – 1. Adam Sparks, Knoxville News-Sentinel 2. Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press 3. Frank Bonner, The Daily Memphian.
Judges’ comments: "A solid group of stories by the winning writer, who explains the intricacies of the state of Tennessee filing a lawsuit against the NCAA over its NIL policy."
BEST PREP WRITER – 1. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times-Free Press 2. John Varlas, Daily Memphian 3. None awarded.
Judges’ comments: "The first-place winner was clear-cut. He picked great subjects, such as the lack of African-American high school baseball players, as well as the struggles of a high school football program that barely stayed alive because of a lack of players. Well-written and tightly edited."
BEST INVESTIGATIVE/SERIES – 1. Tim Buckley, The Daily Memphian. 2. Adam Sparks, Knoxville News-Sentinel 3. Drew Hill, Daily Memphian.
Judges’ comments: "Three vastly different series placed in this category – an enterprise/investigative entry, an investigative series, and a rambling feature series so lengthy that the writer must have been paid per word. The winner was a three-part series on removing the veil of how NIL operates at the University of Memphis. He talked to everybody from the operations director of the U of M collective to administrators, coaches and players. Great look at the inner workings of the operation from all angles."
BEST SPECIAL SECTIONS (ALL DIVISIONS COMBINED) – 1. Union City Messenger (Kevin Weaks) 2. The Chattanooga Times-Free Press (Stephen Hargis) 3. Johnson City Press (Jeff Birchfield)
Judges’ comments: "These are some of the finest special sections we’ve ever judged, especially the preseason football special section, which has to be reinvented annually. The winner in this category thought way outside of the box this year by publishing four separate eight-page sections with one section each for its primary high schools (Union City, Obion Central, South Fulton) and its lone college (Tennessee-Martin). Full-blown separate covers for each school. Great writing, dazzling graphics. Huge pullout season schedules. Special kudos to the third-place winner because the entire 24-page special section was written by ONE writer. Unbelievable effort, full of informative content."
NOTE: DID NOT HAVE MULTIPLE ENTRIES TO JUDGE BEST DAILY SECTION, BEST INDIVIDUAL LAYOUT AND BEST OUTDOOR WRITER.
DIVISION II and III (Combined due to a lack of entries)
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Blaine Kellar, Main Street Media of Tennessee 2. Charles Pulliam, Williamson Herald 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.
Judges’ comments: "Had great ledes in each of his stories that grabbed your attention and kept you reading. He had an eclectic choice of subjects – a retired MLB baseball scout who served 32 years in the business, a high school wrestler fighting back from a mysterious paralysis, and a 78-year-old golfer who has played 700 different courses in his lifetime."
BEST COLUMNIST – 1. Maria M. Cornelius, 247 Sports 2. Marcus Fitzsimmons, The Daily Times 3. None awarded.
Judges’ comments: "Marvelous, detailed, well-sourced and multiple-voiced columns, such as how Candace Parker changed the face of women’s basketball."
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Caleb Jarreau, The Daily Times 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger. 3. Josh Lane, The Daily Times
Judges’ comments: “Tightly contested category, but the edge for the winner was his story on the meteoric rise of Hispanic basketball coach Gabe Lazo to become a Lady Vols’ assistant."
BEST PREP WRITER – 1. Josh Lane, The Daily Times 2. Caleb Jarreau, The Daily Times 3. Marcus Fitzsimmons, The Daily Times
Judges’ comments: "Nothing fancy, just three solidly written profiles on Maryville and Alcoa High athletes. The standout feature was the Maryville offensive lineman who committed to Air Force with dreams of becoming a pilot."
BEST EVENT/NEWS WRITER – 1. Charles Pulliam, Williamson Herald. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger 3. Marcus Fitzsimmons, The Daily Times.
Judges’ comments: “There’s no excuse not to have multiple voices in a story, especially when covering a game. Using strictly head coach quotes is lazy. Kudos to the winner in this category because he didn’t do that. He added meaningful player quotes, especially from a team that won a state championship."
NOTE: DID NOT HAVE MULTIPLE ENTRIES TO JUDGE BEST DAILY SECTION, BEST INDIVIDUAL LAYOUT AND BEST OUTDOOR WRITER.
DIVISION IV
Not judged because there was just one school SID who entered.