2021 VPA News and Advertising Contest

Sports Writing Portfolio ( Daily Group 2)Back

  • Place Name: First Place
    Contestant Name: The Free Lance-Star
    Entry Title: Women making headway on high school sidelines; Local athlete can’t rest in battle with epilepsy; and Personal losses help fuel team’s gridiron victories
    Entry Credit: Joey LoMonaco
    Judge Comment: This entry is a runaway winner. Joey LoMonaco does an outstanding job of enticing a reader into his stories, using details that put the reader where the story is and has an easy-to-read flow to his work. His piece on women high school coaches at Brook Point, the field hockey player's compelling story with her battle with epilepsy and the tragedies that befell a high school football team on its state championship run all were great reads. He got real on the challenges the women faced coaching high schoolers; brilliantly explained the field hockey players journey through a lifetime of combatting epilepsy; and the heartache for two star football players with the recent deaths of family members. Outstanding work.
  • Place Name: Second Place
    Contestant Name: The News & Advance
    Entry Title: Doug Smith, Bryson Meeks, Virginia 10 Miler
    Entry Credit: Ben Cates
    Judge Comment: A strong entry, as the reporter does a nice job digging deep with the subject, on a wide variety of stories. A compelling look at a highly successful football coach with cancer; an autistic teenager who provides life lessons beyond football for his dad, the coach; and a really strong story on a local runner in a race returning to the community after a Covid hiatus. Excellent entry.
  • Place Name: Third Place
    Contestant Name: The News & Advance
    Entry Title: Jamari Hubbard, Kristen & Kate Hardie, Jug Bowl
    Entry Credit: Emily Brown
    Judge Comment: The features on football team "good luck charm" with cerebral palsy and the high school volleyball team were good reads. The game story on Heritage's come-from-behind win was good as far as traditional game stories go.