TSWA WRITING CONTEST AWARDS

2020

DIVISION I
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean: The winner by a wide, wide margin, led by his thorough, balanced and incredibly detailed investigative report on an expelled Vandy football player found responsible for sexual assault who continued to have access to the football facilities and activities that placed him in the proximity of his accuser. 2. John Varlas, The Daily Memphian. 3. John Glennon, The Athletic/SI.com.

BEST COLUMNIST – 1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel: There seems to be a clear division in writing styles among these entries. Four writers wrote feature-type columns, using quotes from subjects to give validity to the writers’ opinions. And then you have one writer who didn’t quote anybody in his three columns, which were bursting with strong opinions delivered with facts and perspective. 2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. Tom Kreager, The Tennessean.

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. John Glennon, The Athletic/SI.com: Superb writing and reporting in all three stories, but the feature recalling Titans’ clandestine workouts in 2012 of free agent quarterback Peyton Manning was simply amazing. Writer doesn’t get in the way of great storytelling. 2. John Varlas, The Daily Memphian. 3. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free-Press: Easy winner. Each of his entries checked all the boxes of excellent event stories. Creative leads, great context, hints of atmosphere, sprinkling quotes in just the right places. 2. Tom Kreager, The Tennessean. 3. Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press.

BEST NEWS WRITER – 1. Tom Kreager, The Tennessean: Great detail and clarity on controversial happenings, such as a high school walkout protesting the unexpected firing of a popular coach, as well explaining who has jurisdiction to stop high school playoff games because of COVID-19 and who doesn’t have jurisdiction to halt regular season play. 2. Teresa M. Walker, The Associated Press. 3. None awarded.

BEST PREP WRITER – 1. John Varlas, The Daily Memphian: It was obvious this writer put a lot of legwork into his stories. It wasn’t just making numerous phone calls for a wonderfully written obit on the passing of a legendary Memphis-area football coach. It was about being on the scene at a protest of Shelby County School football players upset about the postponement of their seasons because of COVID-19. 2. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times-Free-Press. 3. Tom Kreager, The Tennessean.

NOTE: DID NOT HAVE ENTRIES TO JUDGE BEST DAILY SECTION, BEST SPECIAL SECTION, BEST INVESTIGATIVE SERIES, BEST INDIVIDUAL LAYOUT AND BEST OUTDOOR WRITER

DIVISION II
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger: Three compelling subjects – a look at the MacIntyre coaching tree, a ground-breaking African-American high school football player and a longtime friend remembering Johnny Majors upon his death – were all smooth, easy reads. 2. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal. 3. None awarded.

BEST SPECIAL SECTION (COMBINED DIVISION II AND III) – 1. Union City Messenger 2020 Football Preview (Kevin Weaks, editor): A read-all-season section that has extras other preseason sections don’t, simple touches such as graphics filled with quick read info reviewing the previous 2019 season and the 2020 schedule stripped across the bottom using colorful logos of opponents. 2. Weakley County Press 2020 High School Football Preview (Randy Cavin, editor). 3. Macon County Times Area Basketball Preview (Craig Harris, editor).

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal – Winner could have done a better job choosing stories. There should be one human tragedy – such as car wrecks, overcoming deadly disease – story limit. Fortunately, the winner saved himself writing about a secondary school superfan coping with no sports because of the pandemic. 2. Taylor Vortherms, The Daily Times, Maryville. 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: Simply had better story angles and creative leads that made you want to read on. And when you did, there was a judicious use of quotes to keep the story flow smooth. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger 3. None awarded.

BEST NEWS WRITER – 1. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger: Two of the winner’s three stories were COVID-19 pandemic-related, but both were timely and extremely informative, such as UTM officials and athletes trying to understand the ins and outs of the NCAA’s extra year of eligibility offers. 2. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal. 3. None awarded.

BEST PREP WRITER – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: Excellent news story on Oakland High football program being placed on probation gave the winner an edge in this category. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger. 3. None awarded.

NOTE: DID NOT HAVE ANY OR NOT ENOUGH ENTRIES TO JUDGE BEST SECTION, BEST COLUMNIST, BEST INDIVIDUAL LAYOUT

DIVISION III
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Craig Harris, Macon County Times: His three stories were vastly different – a feature on eighth-grader gunshot victim recovering to play football, a multi-voiced reaction story to COVID-19 shutting down high school sports and a “What if?” column wondering how some of the local high school seasons would have played out if not for the COVID-19 shutdown. 2 Russell Vannozzi, Main Street Media. 3 Bill Traughber, Nashville Retrospect.

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Russell Vannozzi, Main Street Media: Impressed with the thoroughness of the features by the winning writer, yet without droning on and on. Also, his leads didn’t beat around the bush. Got the reader quickly into the story. 2. Craig Harris, Macon County Times. 3. Randy Cavin, Weakley County Press.

BEST NEWS/EVENT WRITER – 1. Bill Sorrell, West 10 Media: Had the best leads, the best organization, the best flow. The lengths of all these stories were long with lots of quotes, maybe a few too many. 2. Russell Vannozzi, Main Street Media. 3. Cory Woodroof, Williamson Home Page.

NOTE: PAIRED DIVISION III SPECIAL SECTION ENTRIES WITH DIVISION II DUE TO A LACK OF ENTRIES

DIVISION IV
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Chad Bishop, Vanderbilt: Writer took the reader inside each of his subjects, such Vanderbilt women’s soccer player turned placekicker Sara Fuller and put the reader in their worlds with detailed, but not overwritten writing. 2. Phil Stukenborg, University of Memphis. 3 Mark McGee, Lipscomb.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Thomas Corhern, Tennessee Tech: Engaging leads but story organization and flow were strongpoints. Gave the readers all the answers to any questions they might have. 2. Anne C. Wehunt, Chattanooga. 3. Jay Blackman, Chattanooga.

2019

DIVISION I
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Erik Bacharach, The Tennessean: Not one weak link in his three-story package. Wrote about three challenging subjects that required some real reporting, investigative work and multiple interviews. Tore down some walls revealing both sides of late Titans quarterback Steve McNair’s less-than-perfect life. 2. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean. 3. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press.

BEST COLUMNIST – 1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel: Columnists should deliver opinions. They should not straddle the fence. They should avoid writing features and present them as columns. This best columnist winner brings it in every column. He surgically takes apart his subjects. Always delivers with bite, wit and logic. 2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. None entered.

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Erik Bacharach, The Tennessean: Fearlessly tackled delicate subjects such as how the Titans thoroughly vetted Jeffery Simmons before drafting him and the double-life of late Titans quarterback Steve McNair. Delivered superbly reported and tightly written features filled with balance and perspective. This was a tough call between the winner of this category and the runner-up. 2. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean. 3. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean: Clear, concise ledes transitioning into three smoothly written deadline stories, including Vandy’s CWS championship clinching win. This writer did a phenomenal job providing context and background in a story on postgame dust-up between Vandy basketball coach Jerry Stackhouse and an Austin Peay assistant. 2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. Teresa M. Walker, Associated Press.

BEST NEWS WRITER – 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean: A trio of stories with multi-voices, multi-sources and each story answered every question a reader could imagine. The stories on TD Ameritrade Park officials threatening to toss the Vandy whistler and the unexpected death of Vandy AD David Williams were strong. 2. Teresa M. Walker, Associated Press. 3. None awarded.

Note: There were not enough entries in Division I to judge categories for best section, best special section, prep writer of the year, best investigative series, best individual layout and best outdoor writer.

DIVISION II
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: Had two outstanding features but what separated him from the field was his willingness to tackle an enterprise story on why Tennessee high school athletes don’t have mandated heart screenings. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger. 3. Scott Wilson, Cookeville Herald-Citizen.

BEST SECTION – 1. Cleveland Daily Banner: Big, bold color photos dominated this paper’s daily sections that were loaded with staff written stories. These are sections that serve its local readership well. 2. Union City Messenger 3. None awarded.

BEST SPECIAL SECTION – 1. Union City Messenger: Packs a ton of information and stories into separate high school and college sections highlighted by colorful, splashy graphics. It may not be a slick-magazine type entry like others, but substance wins over style. 2. Cookeville Herald-Citizen. 3. Cleveland Daily Banner.

BEST COLUMNIST – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: Love a columnist who takes a clear side in an issue and backs it up with an avalanche of facts and logic. 2. Joe Cannon, Cleveland Daily Banner. 3. None awarded.

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Scott Wilson, Cookeville Herald-Citizen: There is something to be said for the winner in this category who entered three short features. The winner didn’t overwrite them, didn’t over-dramatize them, but he had three good hooks, especially the female high school football player. 2. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger: Short, snappy ledes led to well-organized, stories that told the reader exactly why one team won and why the other lost. Simple, clear, but not boring writing. 2. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal. 3. Joe Cannon, Cleveland Daily Banner.

BEST NEWS WRITER – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: Excellent, detailed reporting in each of his three stories. Did a nice job explaining how Rick Barnes was almost hired by UCLA and then about the NCAA’s proposal to take a second look at the graduate transfer rule. 2. Scott Wilson, Cookeville Herald-Citizen. 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.

BEST PREP WRITER – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: Easily had the best variety of stories, but the feature on the Oakland High school soccer players from Venezuela was well-written, riveting reading. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger. 3. Joe Cannon, Cleveland Daily Banner.

NOTE: Did not have entries to judge best individual layout.

DIVISION III
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: This writer had incredibly strong column on the Jeremy Banks arrest, a solid two-part feature on Tee Martin returning as a Tennessee assistant coach and heartfelt personal column of attending the Cooperstown induction of his former American Legion teammate Lee Smith. 2. Russell Vannozzi, Robertson County Connection (Main Street Media). 3. Charles Pulliam, Williamson Herald.

BEST SPECIAL SECTION – 1. 2019 High School Football Preview, Weakley County Press: Twice as much information as the other entries. Smartly written stories, excellent graphics and the back cover schedule grid was a great idea. 2. 2019 Williamson County Football Preview, Joe Williams. 3. 2019 High School Football Preview, Macon County Times.

BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Craig Harris, Macon County Times – Three well-written features on three subjects that didn’t have tragedy, incurable disease or maladies that almost every writer in this category decided to enter. The winner wrote about two lifelong friends who became high school officials, two marathoners who ran 300 marathons in a year and on a high school golf program that produced 10 college golfers in 13 years. 2. Mark McGee, Shelby Times-Gazette. 3. Russell Vannozzi, Robertson County Connection (Main Street Media).

BEST NEWS/EVENT WRITER – 1. Bill Sorrell, West 10 Media: Loved the feature approach angle on all three of the category winner’s event stories. For any non-daily paper, it’s the perfect approach to cover events. Captivating ledes, great context in each story. 2. Russell Vannozzi, Robertson County Connection (Main Street Media) 3. Craig Harris, Macon County Times.

DIVISION IV
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Thomas Corhern, Tennessee Tech Athletics: You could tell how much legwork, care and sheer perfection the winner injects into three unique stories, topped by the former Tech lineman turned singer who appeared on “The Voice”. 2. Chad Bishop, Vanderbilt. 3. Mark McGee, Lipscomb University.

BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio: Not a big fan of any story – especially event stories – that have too many short choppy paragraphs. It’s like stringing together a bunch of tweets. But the winner compensated with well-organized entries that made sense of the events covered. 2. Michael Wottreng, Carson-Newman University. 3. Lauren Moore, Lincoln Memorial University.

2018

DIVISION I
Gary Lundy Writer of the Year: 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean – The depth and balance of the winner’s reporting that Vanderbilt’s administration was undercutting fundraising efforts for a football stadium project was the best story among all the Writer of the Year entries. And then he backed it up with two solid features, including a hilarious, revealing look at the Vanderbilt whistlers. 2. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel. 3. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press.

Best Daily Section: No entries.

Best Special Section: 1. Chattanooga Times-Free Press – This might be the only newspaper in America whose preseason football section is a slick 67-page magazine with insightful writing and graphics that rivals any of the best preseason mags on newsstands. For a local paper, this special section edited by Stephen Hargis is a stunning achievement. 2. Union City Messenger. 3. None awarded.

Best Columnist: 1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel – Columnists sometimes have a tendency to go overboard when hammering home an opinion, but the winner in this category has a nuanced style that’s fun to read. He knows when to take his jabs and keep moving. 2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal.

Best Feature Writer: 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean – The winner’s entry ranged the gamut from solid reporting on a story on why Vandy administrators undercut fundraising efforts for a football story project to a light, breezy touch on his feature on the aggravating Vanderbilt whistlers. The winner’s stories proved you don’t have to drone on-and-on to write effective, readable features. 2. Teresa M. Walker, Associated Press. 3. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Free-Press.

Best Event Writer: 1. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press – The easy winner in this category, the writer showed his scribing chops covering three vastly different events – the SEC football championship game, a USA regional boxing qualifier and the funeral of a popular 16-year-old basketball player. The latter two stories required a lot of legwork from the writer and it showed. 2. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean. 3. Teresa M. Walker, Associated Press.

Best News Writer: 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean: Had punchy ledes to get readers into story and his story organization was second-to-none. 2. Teresa M. Walker, Associated Press. 3. None awarded.

Best Prep Writer: 1. Tom Kreager, The Tennessean – Loved the balance of the three stories in the winning entry, especially from the standpoint they were all well-researched, had multiple voices in each and had great, crisp writing. There were no wasted words. 2. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times-Free-Press. 3. None awarded.

DIVISION II
Gary Lundy Writer of the Year: 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal – Had three tremendous story angles, but his feature on the Murfreesboro high school girls basketball player who wears a Muslim hijab and an investigative piece on a renegade prep academy showed writing and reporting depth. The latter story was extremely well-balanced. 2. Luis Torres, Daily News Journal. 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.

Best Feature Writer: 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal – Winner barely edged out second-place finisher. Thought winner had a better variety of story angles, though both had entries involving subjects battling cancer, which seems to be in many writers’ entries. 2. Luis Torres, Daily News Journal. 3. Mark McGee, Shelbyville Times-Gazette.

Best Event Writer: 1. Luis Torres, Daily News Journal – Entries were three MTSU football stories, but it was refreshing to see a writer who could be creative while not ignoring the basics of who, what, when and why. Felt the winner did a good job of making it easy on readers to navigate his stories. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger. 3. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal.

Best News Writer: 1. Luis Torres, Daily News Journal – Excellent, well-organized stories on MTSU starting beer sales at games, MTSU coach Rick Stockstill exonerated from claims of player abuse and MTSU re-writing coaches’ contracts to include sexual harassment, sexual assault and domestic violence. All these stories answered every question posed by readers. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger. 3. None awarded.

Best Prep Writer: 1. Luis Torres, Jackson Sun – Feature on a 17-year-old high school softball player who has twice beaten cancer and has a three-year-old daughter was delicately written and carried his three-story entry. 2. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal. 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.

DIVISION III
Gary Lundy Writer of the Year: 1. Craig Harris, Macon County Times – Winner showed versatility with a beloved 66-year-old girls high school basketball coach who overcame numerous obstacles, a feature on a girls high school basketball program staging a one-stop-shop practice for college recruiters and a well-organized news story on a high school coach resignation. Winner also stood out with crisp, tight writing. 2. Bill Sorrell, Journal West 10. 3. Randy Cavin, Weakley County Press.

Best Special Section: 1. Weakley County Press, 2018 High School Football Preview – Edited by Randy Cavin, no stone was left unturned in this special section, with high school and middle school previews, plus the handy schedule grid on the back cover. The graphics on the high school team previews weren’t overdone. Solid writing. 2. Macon County Times, 2018 High School Football Preview 3. Journal West 10, 2018 High School Football Preview.

Best Feature Writer: 1. Bill Sorrell, Journal West 10 – All his features were thoroughly reported and written, but his feature on a college baseball player who was declared dead when he was 10 after drowning and survived was magnificent. 2. Randy Cavin, Weakley County Press. 3. Bill Traughber, Nashville Retrospect.

Best News/Event Writer: 1. Craig Harris, Macon County Times – This writer clearly understands story flow and brevity. Never overwrote, never understated. Nice balance of facts and quotes. 2. Bill Sorrell, Journal West 10. 3. Ed Grief, Morgan County Today.

Division IV
Best Feature Writer: 1. Thomas Corhern, Tennessee Tech – Stood out because of his ability to add historical perspective without bogging down stories as well as his smooth story flow and judicious use of quotes. His stuff never seemed forced or overstated. 2. Colby Wilson, Austin Peay 3. Mark McGee, Lipscomb.

Best Event Writer: 1. Thomas Corhern, Tennessee Tech – The winner showed effort and creativity, writing newspaper-quality stories. 2. Phil Stukenborg, University of Memphis. 3. Mike Hutchens, Union City Schools.

2017

Division I
Gary Lundy Writer of the Year – 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean – The winner made me laugh with his feature on Derek Mason’s locker room speeches, made me feel empathy for Vandy’s Matthew Fisher-Davis’ needless foul that lost an NCAA tourney game for the Commodores and made me cry with his feature on the two Vandy baseball teammates who were with teammate Donny Everett when he drowned. 2. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel. 3. Jason Wolf, The Tennessean.

Best Columnist – 1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel – What other columnist would predict in March (“The harsh reality is when Jones met Currie, he probably met the man who will fire him”) what will happen in November? What other columnist would find the college dorm room overlooking Tennessee’s practice field where he can watch closed practices. 2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. David Ammenheuser, The Tennessean.

Best Feature Writer – 1. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times-Free Press – His features reflects the time and sweat he puts in them. This is a writer who does a lot of legwork and it shows in his stories. He also always paints the scene extremely well. 2. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean. 3. Jason Wolf, The Tennessean.

Best Event Writer – 1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean – Reading the three stories of the winner, there are no holes in them. Good flow, multi-voices and the right amount of subtle analysis that tells a reader why something happened rather than writing it merely happened.  2. Teresa Walker, Associated Press. 3. Blake Toppmeyer, Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Best Prep Writer – 1. Tom Kreager, The Tennessean – A coach who lost 220 pounds, a one-armed high school catcher and a coach whose girls basketball team lost by 93 points. These are the winner’s unique subjects and he knocked all three out of the park one-by-one. 2. John Varlas, The Commercial Appeal 3. Luis Torres, The Jackson Sun.

Best Individual Layout – 1. Jamie Poole, Chattanooga Times-Free Press – All the layouts by the winner in this category contain an amazing amount of information without appearing crowded. All graphics are short and sweet. There’s not much waste of space. 2. Dylan Chessar, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. Shelby Farmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press.

Division II
Gary Lundy Writer of the Year – 1. Eric Bacharach, Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro – Reading the winner’s three stories, they meet a standard of excellence in every way. Great subjects, complete and thorough reporting and written with a deft human touch. 2. Mike Hutchens, The Messenger, Union City. 3. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro.

Best Daily Section – 1. The Daily Messenger, Union City – Not a great amount of space, but this paper packs a lot in an eight-page section. The writing is tight and the pages have good flow. 2. The Daily Times, Maryville. 3. None awarded.

Best Special Section – 1. The Messenger, Union City – Everything about this preseason high school football special section just “pops” – the writing, the graphics, the vivid color picture reproduction, the layout. Wow! Wow! Wow! 2. The Daily Times, Maryville 3. Macon County Times.

Best Columnist – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Sports Radio – To be blunt, the winner was simply the best of a weak bunch of entries. Only the winner gave a hint of opinion in his columns. Everybody else entered nothing but feature fluff except for the second place winner who wrote about his comeback from almost being killed in an auto accident. Note to Division 2 writers: When you enter this column next year, please have an opinion. 2. Mike Hutchens, The Messenger, Union City. 3. Austin Bornheim, The Daily Times, Maryville.

Best Feature Writer – 1. Eric Bacharach, Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro – Consistency in all three of his features made this writer the winner. His life on the road with the MTSU women’s basketball team covered every angle. The only complaint is it was way too long. Brevity is not a bad thing. 2. Mike Hutchens, The Messenger, Union City. 3. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro.

Best Event Writer – 1. Erik Bacharach, Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro – The story that made him the winner was the Middle Tennessee State baseball team attended the funeral of a 12-year-boy who had befriended and inspired the team. 2. Mike Hutchens, The Messenger, Union City. 3. Kevin Weaks, The Messenger, Union City.

Best News Writer – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Sports Radio – The winner is obviously a polished writer. He took three “hard” news stories – the Josh Smith lawsuit, the Antoine Davis resignation and Greg Schiano’s invalid memorandum of understanding – and guided readers deftly through legal ins-and-outs in clear, concise manner. 2. Mike Hutchens, The Messenger, Union City 3. Kevin Weeks, The Messenger, Union City.

Best Prep Writer – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro – The first rule of good sports writing is hooking the reader in the first three graphs and then moving the reader smoothly through a story. The winner chose to enter three features rather than a variety (news, event, column), but he knows his strength. Great angles and character development. 2. Mike Hutchens, The Messenger, Union City 3. Kevin Weaks, The Messenger, Union City.

Division III
Gary Lundy Writer of the Year – 1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Sports Radio – This was an easy pick as the winner. His free-wheeling feature on former Tennessee basketball player Ron Slay was full of hilarious stories. His Tennessee-Missouri football game story was a smooth, well-paced read. 2. Craig Harris, Macon County Times 3. Joe Williams, Williamson Herald.

Best Special Section – 1. The Weakley County Press – “All-inclusive” is the best way to describe this section.  Yes, it has all the bells and whistles that make it easy for the reader to navigate between the featured teams and a schedule grid on the outside back cover. But the fact group pictures of high school cheerleaders were included makes me think the editor understands more than players and coaches contribute to Friday nights. 2. Williamson Herald. 3. Journal West.

Best Event/News Writer – 1. Bill Sorrell, Journal West 10 – The winner entered three event stories, but they did exactly what event stories are supposed to do – put the reader not just at the event, but inside the event. Great work. 2. Joe Williams, Williamson Herald. 3. Craig Harris, Macon County Times.

Best Feature Writer – 1. Joe Williams, Williamson Herald – Really impressed that his features were more about a topic rather than a subject, such as Brentwood’s softball coach on the subject of her pitchers and infielders wearing protective masks, as well the business problems faced by NASCAR. 2. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Sports Radio. 3. Bill Traughber, Nashville Retrospect.

Division IV
Best Feature Writer – 1. Mark McGee, Lipscomb University – You can tell when a writer’s passion for a story subject shines through. It does time and again with this writer. His story on Lint Smith, who has served 40 years in the Lipscomb athletic department as director of grounds, was tremendous. 2. Thomas Corhern, Tennessee Tech 3. Colby Wilson, Austin Peay.

Best Event Writer – 1. Bill Sorrell, Bethel University – The winner has a knack for mastering the art of writing a feature-style event. It’s hard to pull off, but this writer makes it look easy. 2. Anne Wehunt, Chattanooga. 3. Colby Wilson, Austin Peay.

2016

Division I
Gary Lundy Writer of the Year
1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel – It’s hard in this business to write with precision and restraint, yet have a style of your own that readers either love or hate. The winner of this category fits those descriptions. Beautiful, economical prose that always draws readers in and takes them for a smooth, quick ride that is always memorable. The winner is versatile enough to open a vein and bleed about the death of Pat Summitt, yet put verbal blowtorch to Tennessee’s cliché-ridden Butch Jones.
2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press
3. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean

Best Daily Section
1. The Tennessean – Quite simply, the winner had three daily sections that covered every conceivable angle of the primary event of the day – national signing day, the Tennessee-Virginia Tech battle at Bristol and a Titans game. It’s not just an overload of staff written stories, but more “extras” than you can imagine.
2. Knoxville News-Sentinel
3. Chattanooga Times-Free Press

Best Special Section
1. Knoxville News-Sentinel – The hometown paper of the University of Tennessee delivered as expected, celebrating the passing and the life of Pat Summitt – 32 stunning pages filled with remembrances, career highlights and pictures galore. Wow! Wow! Wow!
2. Chattanooga Times-Free Press, 2016 high school football preview
3. The Tennessean

Best Columnist
1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel – The winner is not just a true columnist with an opinion, but he delivers them like a pitcher mixing his pitches. There’s unabashed sarcasm of Butch Jones, outright indignation of Tennessee failing to fire a baseball coach and a heartfelt remembrance of Pat Summitt. Every other columnist in this category wrote like they enjoyed their own voice. The winner wrote like he doesn’t give a damn, which is the way you’re supposed to write columns.
2. Joe Rexrode, The Tennessean
3. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press

Best Feature Writer
1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel – The winner was the only writer out of the 15 who entered this category that didn’t have a single feature about some sort of human tragedy. The winner had three unique angles – a longtime grudge of former UT trainer against Peyton Manning, the towns of Bristol, Tennessee and Virginia preparing for the big game and Pat Summitt’s roommate on her death. The winner understands if you want to write a never-ending 10,000-word feature that drones on and on, then go work for a magazine.
2. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean
3. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times-Free Press

Best Event Writer
1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean – It’s rare when a writer wins this category with three stories on the same subject, the tragic drowning of Vanderbilt pitcher Donny Everett. But from the first story on the initial shock of his coaches and teammates, to trying to play an NCAA tourney game to Everett’s funeral, there’s thorough reporting mixed with the perfect touch of scene-setting.
2. Mike Strange, Knoxville News-Sentinel
3. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times-Free Press

Best Prep Writer
1. Chris Thomas, Knoxville News-Sentinel – The winner personifies versatility – a well-reported rape case involving the wife of an assistant coach and a student as well as emotional features about overcoming personal tragedy.
2. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times-Free Press
3. Tom Kreager, The Tennessean

Best Investigative/Series
1. Adam Sparks, The Tennessean – A  fascinating breakdown of former Vanderbilt football coach James Franklin’s recruiting classes.
2. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times-Free Press
3. Jimmy Hyams, WMNL Sports Radio

Best Individual Layout
1. Jamie Poole, Chattanooga Times-Free Press – The difference between dominant art and art that dominates is dominant art fills up space and art that dominates enhances it by being creative. The winner of this category wasn’t afraid to have just three stories on a sports front because the winner also had art that dominates. The overhead shot of the Kentucky Derby winner crossing the finish line blending in below of a ground level picture of the field running towards the camera was brilliant.
2. Dylan Chessar, Chattanooga Times-Free Press.
3. None awarded.

Best Outdoor Writer
1. Mike Organ, The Tennessean – The  winner can spin a tale of two guys and a girl trying to land a 90-pound catfish but also reflect the seriousness of illegal deer killing.
2. David Cobb, Chattanooga Times-Free Press.
3. None awarded.

Division II
Gary Lundy Writer of the Year
1. Mike Hutchens, The Messenger, Union City – The best way to describe why this writer won is he has a knack of writing with a personal touch. When you read him, it’s like you’re sitting next to him along for the ride, whether it’s the 30th year reunion of a high school state championship basketball team or a family’s fight against a debilitating disease or a first-person column on the new Titans GM.
2. Kevin Weaks, The Messenger, Union City
3. None awarded.

Best Special Section
1. The Messenger, Union City – It’s hard to believe a small circulation paper can produce something so superb in every way imaginable as its preseason high school football section. Besides a bundle of well-arranged, thoroughly-researched information, the features are all fun reads, such as tracking the cover boys from the 32 previous preseason high school football sections.
2. The Roane County News, preseason high school football section edited by Goose Lindsay
3. None awarded.

Best Feature Writer
1. Mike Hutchens, The Messenger, Union City – Three solid features, but the one that was absolutely riveting was the 41-year-old-plus golfer still determined to chase his professional dreams despite never-ending health problems and 12 surgeries.
2. Kevin Weaks, The Messenger, Union City
3. Troy Provost-Heron, The Daily Times, Maryville

Best Event Writer
1. Mike Hutchens, The Messenger, Union City – Just “the best.” The best leads, the best organization, the best use of quotes.
2. Kevin Weaks, The Messenger, Union City.
3. None awarded.

Best News Writer
1. Mike Hutchens, The Messenger, Union City – The secret of good news writing is to craft a lead that draws in but doesn’t confuse the reader. The rest of a news story is about organization and flow. The winner of this category mastered all three, topped by this lead about a TSSAA Board of Control meeting that said, “When all was said and done, much more was said than done.”
2. Kevin Weaks, The Messenger, Union City
3. None awarded.

Best Prep Writer
1. Kevin Weaks, The Messenger, Union City – All things being even between the top two places in this category, the tiebreaker was the winner’s feature on how high school football players from three area schools spent their summer in unique and educational ways.
2. Mike Hutchens, The Messenger, Union City
3. Austin Bornheim, The Daily Times, Maryville

Division III
Gary Lundy Writer of the Year
1. Jonathan Herrmann, News Herald – With two good features and a game story this writer probably could have won this category with just his extensive feature on the downfall and rise of Travis Cozart.
2. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Sports Radio
3. Kenneth Coker, Dresden Enterprise

Best Special Section
1. The Weakley County Press – Edited by Randy Cavin, their preseason high school football section simply has extras that are hard to find in similar sections, like middle school previews? Who in the world does MIDDLE SCHOOL previews? The Weakley County Press, that’s who. Also, the schedule grid on the back of the section is a simple idea that needs to be copied more often.
2. The Newport Plain Talk, special section on remembering Pat Summitt, edited by Seth Butler
3. None awarded.

Best Event/News Writer
1. Kenneth Coker, Dresden Enterprise – Not only did the winner show versatility with a game story, a hiring story and the death of Pat Summitt, but each was well-arranged with succinct quotes. The Summitt story was simply outstanding.
2. Jonathan Herrmann, News Herald
3. Bill Sorrell, Journal West 10

Best Feature Writer
1. Jonathan Herrmann, News Herald – If they paid this writer by the word, he could retire immediately with enough money to last him the rest of his life. The positives are that he picked great subjects with unique angles like a fallen one-time high school phenom putting his life back together, a star high school player becoming a college basketball manager and a female equestrian who competes in show jumping. The negative: Use some restraint. You don’t have to use every quote by everybody. Dial it back.
2. Bill Traughber, Nashville Retrospect
3. Seth Butler, Newport Plain Talk

Division IV
Best Feature Writer
1. Mark McGee, Lipscomb University – Amazing angles such as two generations of Lipscomb cheerleaders 67 years apart and the little-known person who inspired one of the school’s most generous donors. Better yet, the winner doesn’t get in the way of the story-telling.
2. Lamar Chance, University of Memphis
3. Colby Wilson, Austin Peay

Best Event Writer
1. Mark McGee, Lipscomb University – This category isn’t a fair fight. You can tell the winner just isn’t a typical university SID or PR person but has a newspaper background. Each of the winner’s stories have engaging leads, good story flow and a balance of quotes.
2. Tony Stinnett, Middle Tennessee State
3. Bill Sorrell, Bethel University

2015

DIVISION I

Best Daily Section 

1. The Tennessean

2. Knoxville News-Sentinel

3. Chattanooga Times Free-Press

Best Special Section

1. Chattanooga Times Free-Press

2. Knoxville News-Sentinel

3. The Daily Times, Maryville

Gary Lundy Writer of the Year

1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel

2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times Free Press

3. Mike Strange, Knoxville News-Sentinel

Columnist of the Year

1. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel

2. Dave Ammenheuser, The Tennessean

3. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times Free-Press

Feature Writer of the Year

1. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times Free-Press

2. Dustin Dopirak, Knoxville News-Sentinel

3. Dave Ammenheuser, The Tennessean

Best Event Writer

1. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times Free-Press

2. Mark Wiedmer, Chattanooga Times Free-Press

3. Mike Strange, Knoxville News-Sentinel

Prep Writer of the Year

1. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times Free-Press

2. Chris Thomas, Knoxville News-Sentinel

Best Investigative/Series Writer of the Year

1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio

2. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times Free-Press

 
DIVISION II
Best Daily Section

1. The Daily News Journal

2. Cookeville Herald-Citizen

3. The (Union City) Messenger

Best Special Section

1. The (Union City) Messenger, Mike Hutchens

2. Gallatin News-Examiner, Craig Harris

3. Cookeville Herald-Citizen, Thomas Corhern

Gary Lundy Writer of the Year

1. Tom Kreager , Daily News Journal

2. Thomas Corhern, Cookeville Citizen-Herald

3. Mike Hutchens, The (Union City) Messenger

Best Columnist

1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio

2. Thomas Corhern, Cookeville Herald-Citizen

3. Tom Kreager, Daily News Journal

Best Feature Writer

1. Kevin Weaks, The (Union City) Messenger

2. Tom Kreager, Daily News Journal

3. Mike Hutchens, The (Union City) Messenger

Best Event Writer

1. Mike Hutchens, The (Union City) Messenger

2. Tom Kreager, Daily News Journal

3. Kevin Weaks, The (Union City) Messenger

Best News Writer

1. Tom Kreager, Daily News Journal

2. Mike Hutchens, The (Union City) Messenger

Best Prep Writer

1. Tom Kreager, Daily News Journal

2. Mike Hutchens, The (Union City) Messenger

3. Thomas Corhern, Cookeville Herald- Citizen

DIVISION III
Best Special Section

1. The Weakley County Press, preseason football section, Mike Hutchens

2. The Newport Plain Talk, Pigskin Edition, Seth Butler

3. Gallatin News, Sumner County high school football preview guide, Adam Brown

Gary Lundy Writer of the Year

1. Jimmy Hyams, WNML Radio

2. Seth Butler, The Newport Plain Talk

3. Adam Brown, The Gallatin News

Best Feature Writer

1. Seth Butler, The Newport Plain Talk

2. Kenneth Coker, Dresden Enterprise

3. Craig Harris, Gallatin News Examiner

Best Event/News Writer

1. Craig Harris, Gallatin News Examiner

2. Mike Hutchens, Weakley County Press

3. Kenneth Coker, Dresden Enterprise

 
DIVISION IV (College sports information)
Best Feature Writer:

1. Mark McGee, Lipscomb University

2. Colby Wilson, LetsGoPeay.com.

3. Bill Traughber, VUCommodores.com

Best Event Writer

1. Bill Sorrell, Bethel University

2. Colby Wilson, LetsGoPeay.com

3. Michael Wottreng, Carson-Newman