Blade staff is up for several AP
Sports Editors awards

The Blade placed in the top 10 in four Associated Press Sports Editors awards categories among newspapers of similar size nationwide.

Reporter Kyle Rowland was ranked among the best in the beat writer category, for articles about Justin Fields, Chase Young, the Herbstreit brothers, Corey Dennis, and Big Ten Friday night games.

David Briggs made the top 10 in the column writing category, for pieces about THE arrogance of Ohio State, Michigan’s academic standards, the Glass City Marathon blunder, and foul balls at Mud Hens games.

Nick Piotrowicz, Steve Junga, Mark Monroe, Rowland, and Ashley Bastock garnered a spot among the 10 best in the projects category, for the eight-part “state of the sport” series, which included articles on how soccer, baseball, hockey, golf, bowling, basketball, boxing, and football are faring in the Toledo area.

Andy Morrison placed in the top 10 for his “4-for-4: Dylan D’Emilio’s OHSAA state championship journey” video.

The Blade also earned an honorable mention for its website.

“The recognition from the APSE reflects dedication by The Blade’s sports staff to continuously raise the bar as we strive to provide our community with the best sports coverage possible,” sports editor Scott McNeish said.

The contest breaks up newspapers into different divisions based on their circulation. The B Division is the second-highest circulation division.

The final rankings of every category will be announced at a later date.

First-place honorees will be presented with award plaques at the 2020 APSE summer conference in Indianapolis in June.