Seattle Times earns five Top 10 awards in Associated Press Sports Editors Contest

The Seattle Times earned five awards in the 2023 Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) Contest.

The Times claimed Top 10 awards in the Print Portfolio (Daily and Sunday Sections) and Special Section categories in Division A, the largest newspaper classification. The Times also won a Top 10 award for Digital in Division A, the largest website classification.

The winning Special Section entry was a preview of Major League Baseball’s All-Star week.

Also, The Times was honored with two writing awards in Division A. Mike Vorel was a Top 10 winner in the Long Feature category for his story on late University of Washington football player Joe Jarzynka and his family, and David Gutman was recognized for his story on the frantic final days of the Pac-12.  

“It’s gratifying to see our staff’s work get recognized again by our peers,” Times Sports Editor Paul Barrett said. “And as always, it was an amazing team effort from all areas of our newsroom — writers, editors, producers, designers, photographers, photo editors and graphic artists.”

In an effort to reward more digital work, APSE in December 2021 changed the criteria for Triple Crown and Grand Slam recognition in the contest. They were adjusted again for the 2022 contest.

For the 2022 contest and this year the Triple Crown and Grand Slam categories were Print Portfolio, Digital, Event Coverage and Projects. To be recognized for a Triple Crown, Top 10 finishes were required in any three of the four categories. Grand Slam recognition required Top 10 finishes in all four of the categories.

Before the rule changes were made for the 2021 contest, a Grand Slam required Top 10 finishes in all four of the print/website categories (Daily Section, Sunday Section, Special Section and Digital), and a Triple Crown required Top 10 finishes in three of the four. The Times’ Top 10 finishes this year would have qualified for a Grand Slam under the old rules, and a Triple Crown the previous two years.

“I called it a ‘Classic’ Triple Crown the past couple of years, so I’ll go with ‘Classic’ Grand Slam this time,” Barrett said.

The Times moved into the largest circulation and website categories in the 2018 APSE Contest and has competed with news organizations that include The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and ESPN.com.

This year’s APSE Contest, judged by sports editors and journalists from across the nation, recognized work that was published in 2023. The Times will be honored in June at the APSE Summer Conference Awards Banquet in Charlotte, N.C.

The Times recorded a Grand Slam in the 2020 contest and has won three Grand Slams, two Triple Crowns, one “Classic” Grand Slam and two “Classic” Triple Crowns in the past nine years. Since becoming a morning newspaper in 2000, The Times has won six Triple Crowns and 56 best-section or best-website awards.