The Northwest Herald received three Top 10 awards this week at the national Associated Press Sports Editor competition for work published throughout 2021.
The newspaper won Top 5 honors in the Digital category, which includes newspapers of similar circulation size from across the U.S.
The contest, which was held in Orlando, Florida, was judged by dozens of the top sports journalists from throughout the country.
Additionally, Shaw Local’s Chicago Bears beat writer Sean Hammond received Top 10 honors in the Beat Writing category. Hammond just concluded his second season on the Bears beat.
Northwest Herald sports reporter Joe Stevenson also received Top 10 honors in the Game Story category for his story on Prairie Ridge baseball’s dramatic Class 3A supersectional win over St. Francis.
“Sports Editor Kyle Nabors and his team of writers and reporters seek to cover sports throughout northern Illinois at a high level, telling stories with depth and sophistication,” said Dennis Anderson, Shaw Media vice president for news and content development. “These awards from APSE is national recognition of that work.”
APSE is a national organization that strives to improve professional standards for sports departments of professional news organizations and to recognize professional excellence among its membership.