TSWA 2022 WRITING CONTEST RESULTS
DIVISION 1
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Geoff Calkins, Daily Memphian: There wasn’t much separation in the top three places. One writer entered all columns, another two features and a column, and another a mixture of a column, a feature and a news story. Each writer had one entry that stood out, whether it was a column on the 20th anniversary of the Lewis-Tyson fight, a feature on the 10th anniversary of Whitehaven’s state football championship team, or a news story gleaned from obtaining the University of Tennessee’s response to the NCAA about the Vols’ boatload of rules violations. The winner was consistently excellent, able to weave opinions with scenes and memories. 2. Adam Sparks, Knoxville News-Sentinel 3. John Varlas, Daily Memphian.
BEST COLUMNIST – 1. Geoff Calkins, Daily Memphian: The winner is an excellent example of what a local columnist should be – someone thoroughly connected to his or her city who understands what truly matters to the readership and isn’t afraid to take an unpopular stand. And someone who grabs unique subject matter and knocks it out of the park with a deft writing touch. 2. John Adams, Knoxville News-Sentinel. 3. Adam Sparks, Knoxville News-Sentinel.
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Adam Sparks, Knoxville News-Sentinel: Winner delivered a trio of fascinating stories from a smartly-written deep dive on Tennessee wide receiver Jalin Hyatt to a wonderfully quirky take of a photobomber from a 1982 picture of a postgame handshake between football coaches Johnny Majors of Tennessee and Bear Bryant of Alabama. 2. Tim Buckley, Daily Memphian 3. Teresa Walker, The Associated Press.
BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Adam Sparks, Knoxville News-Sentinel: Sometimes as the event unfolds, it grows in so much stature that it can force sensory overload on a writer. The winner of this category didn’t let that happen, particularly with his story of Tennessee’s dramatic football win over Alabama. He inhaled the postgame chaos and weaved it nicely into what he had witnessed the previous 3½ hours. 2. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times-Free Press. 3. Parth Upadhyaya, Daily Memphian.
BEST PREP WRITER – 1. John Varlas, Daily Memphian: Clear-cut winner. This writer’s stories are so full of everything – facts, voices, perspectives, and experienced insight. You can tell this writer writes with enthusiasm and purpose and loves shedding light on subjects that often get overlooked. 2. Stephen Hargis, Chattanooga Times-Free Press 3. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal.
BEST INVESTIGATIVE/SERIES – 1. Drew Hill, Daily Memphian: Money well-invested to send this writer to Ja Morant’s hometown to produce the “Becoming Ja” three-part series. There was so much insight, and it was all incredibly well-written. And it had to be because the second and third-place finishers in this category could win a lot of writing contests. 2. Adam Sparks, Knoxville News-Sentinel. 3. Tim Buckley, Daily Memphian.
BEST SPECIAL SECTIONS (ALL DIVISIONS COMBINED) – 1. The Union City Messenger (Kevin Weaks): This section has the extras the others don’t. The graphics are excellent. Headshots of players to watch bordering the left side of the page, the previous season’s results, stat leaders and team stats bordering the right side, and the team schedule along the bottom with a smarty written preview that jumps to a page with a team picture. The area teams in this section must be pleased as well as the newspaper who made a lot of ad revenue off this section. 2. Chattanooga Times-Free Press (Stephen Hargis) 3. Williamson Herald (Charles Pulliam).
NOTE: DID NOT HAVE MULTIPLE ENTRIES TO JUDGE BEST DAILY SECTION, BEST NEWS WRITER, BEST INDIVIDUAL LAYOUT AND BEST OUTDOOR WRITER
DIVISION II and III (COMBINED DUE TO JUST ONE DIVISION II WRITER ENTRANT)
GARY LUNDY WRITER OF THE YEAR – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: A very close call between first and second place in this category. The winner entered three detailed features with plenty of voices and perspectives. The runner-up entered three event stories, including a track story on the girls' 800-meter state champion overcoming severe cramping that stood out as the best individual story among all WOY entries. But as a group of three stories, the winner of this category had a slight edge. 2. Charles Pulliam, Williamson Herald. 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal: Three diverse features including a nostalgic look at the 50th-year anniversary of MTSU’s Murphy Center. But what got the writer the win in this category was his deep-dive feature of a one-time runt playing high school football who has become one of the best high school coaches in the state. 2. Charles Pulliam, Williamson Herald. 3. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger.
BEST EVENT/NEWS WRITER – 1. 2. Kevin Weaks, Union City Messenger: Two of the winner’s three stories involved conference expansions in the Missouri Valley and the Ohio Valley. These can be complex and confusing, but this writer wrote well-organized, detailed stories with a nice sprinkling of quotes. 2. Charles Pulliam, Williamson Herald. 3. Cecil Joyce, Daily News Journal
NOTE: DID NOT HAVE MULTIPLE ENTRIES TO JUDGE BEST PREP WRITER, BEST COLUMNIST, BEST SECTION AND BEST INDIVIDUAL LAYOUT. A BEST COLUMNIST ENTRY AND A BEST PREP ENTRY WERE MOVED TO DIVISION I.
DIVISION IV
BEST FEATURE WRITER – 1. Graham Hays, Vanderbilt: All three features were thorough but not overwhelming. His standout feature was on Vandy men's golfer Gordon Sargent, an excellent profile that starts with Sargent winning the NCAA individual national championship in a playoff after missing a putt on the 18th hole that could have won it in regulation. Wonderfully descriptive, but not overwritten. 2. Chad Bishop, Vanderbilt 3. Thomas Corhern, Tennessee Tech.
BEST EVENT WRITER – 1. Chad Bishop, Vanderbilt: Each of the winner’s event stories had all the needed elements. Creative ledes, yet the basics (score, team records, when, where, teams involved) were high in the stories. Good story flow. Didn’t get bogged down in play-by-play. Just the right touch of quotes. Took the reader to the scene of the event without overwriting. 2. Thomas Corhern, Tennessee Tech 3. None awarded.