COLUMBUS — Sidney Daily News Chief Photographer Luke Gronneberg took top honors for a sports photo when the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors 2016 awards were distributed, Sunday, May 21.
His photo of the 2016 state champion Jackson Center High School volleyball team reacting to a score was named as the best sports photograph in Division II for newspapers with circulations between 8,000 and 12,999.
Localife Editor Patricia Ann Speelman earned a third-place award for business writing for a quartet of stories: “NK Parts wins fitness award,” “Privitization positive move,” “Funeral home 10th oldest” and “Wilson gets study results.”
Contributing columnist Dave Ross took home a second-place award for sports column, and former reporter Alexandra Newman was named the second-place winner in the spot news writing category for “JC police chief arrested.”
The association presented awards at a luncheon at the Hilton Columbus for outstanding journalism created during 2016 in print and broadcast fields
The Sidney entries were judged by the staffs of the San Angelo (Texas) Standard-Times and the Cadillac (Michigan) News.
The judges commended Gronneberg’s entry, saying, “The composition enhanced an emotionally charged moment.”
Awarded a first place prize for column-writing in Division I, comprising newspapers with circulations under 8,000, was Belinda Paschal of the Piqua Daily Call, whose columns also regularly run in the Sidney Daily News.
Sixty-seven daily newspapers submitted 2,o84 entries in the contest, which featured news and sports stories, features, editorials, columns, graphics and photos from 2016.
The Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative representing 1,400 newspapers and 5,000 broadcast stations in the United States. Members of AP include 85 daily newspapers in Ohio.
