Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Clarke Central High School - ODYSSEY News Magazine Entry Title: Evaluating safety in sports Entry Credit: Jane Ripps, Lydia Rowell Judge Comment: Really incredible headline, so many great sources and I love stories in this category (or any feature category) that include multiple sources, viewpoints, and the community effect as a whole. This is one amazing sports feature that is BEYOND the sports on the field. Smooth, effective transitions lead to really incredible quotes. This story stands out in the pack due to how unique and creative it is!
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Clarke Central High School - ODYSSEY News Magazine Entry Title: The impossible dream Entry Credit: Wyatt Meyer Judge Comment: How history coincides with the present time in stories can really be a cool and effective approach to features, and that's exactly what this story does. I love the additional pull-quotes that add some storytelling and source depth to the piece. These stories are really difficult to get right and put in a chronological order, but this one is written and feels like work of a collegiate student journalist! Excellent piece.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Clarke Central High School - ODYSSEY News Magazine Entry Title: Playing for pops Entry Credit: Liya Taylor Judge Comment: What a cool story angle and unique idea for a sports feature. This one resonated with me, and your ability to connect the father's experience to his son's basketball experience led to a very smooth, easy to read sports feature piece. Great sources, strong captions on photo, and your story is a true basketball story lesson about this family with such intricate details from start to finish. Great piece!
Competition Comment: The components that our Top 3 in the Sports Feature category include all start with a crafty, creative headline, attention-grabbing lede, powerful sources, effective and detail-infused transitions, and a piece that flows chronologically from start to finish. When you insert great captions with strong photography, punchy pull-quotes and additional visual/copy storytelling techniques, this completes the package and helps you put together an award-winning Sports Feature piece!
