News & Observer sports staff honored with multiple national writing awards
The News & Observer sports staff was again recognized among the nation’s best in the 2025 Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) contest.
In judging completed this week in Las Vegas, the News & Observer earned Top 10 awards in breaking news, event coverage, feature writing, and feature photography for work completed from January through December 2025.
In all, N&O staff writers and photographers earned six awards in the annual APSE contest, considered the top sports writing awards in the country.
Sports staff writer Shelby Swanson led the way with three awards, one each in breaking news, long feature and short feature.
Sports Editor Steve Wiseman earned nods in breaking news, alongside staff writer Jadyn Watson-Fisher, and in event coverage alongside former N&O columnist Luke DeCock.
Staff photographer Robert Willett was honored for feature photography.
“The News & Observer has a distinguished reputation, going back decades, for high-level sports coverage,” Wiseman said. “These awards resulted from our dedication to continuing that work, delivering exceptional sports coverage to our subscribers every day, even as the ways they consume our coverage evolve.”
Swanson’s award-winning work included her coverage of a lawsuit alleging the University of North Carolina violated rules when it hired a law firm to explore leaving the ACC.
Swanson’s immersive look inside the life of legendary ESPN anchor and UNC alum Stuart Scott earned a Top-10 finish in long feature, while her spotlight story on Duke basketball player Spencer Hubbard was honored in short feature.
Wiseman and Watson-Fisher’s honor in breaking news is for coverage of the abrupt firing of basketball coach Kevin Keatts, one year after leading the team on an improbable run to the Final Four, and Wiseman and DeCock’s in-depth coverage of Duke’s run to the Final Four in 2025 was honored in event coverage.
Willett’s winning feature photo entry captured the moment Eric Staal’s Carolina Hurricanes jersey was hoisted to the rafters at Lenovo Center.
The News & Observer’s sister publications, The Charlotte Observer and The State in Columbia, S.C., also received numerous awards this year.
Charlotte writers, photographers and editors were honored with Top-10 awards in projects, event coverage, breaking news, high school beat reporting and action photography. The Observer also was honored for excellence in video.
Highlighting The Observer’s entry was its extensive project “Super Men,” which chronicled the 10th anniversary of the Carolina Panthers’ run to the Super Bowl.
The Observer’s event coverage award was for the outlet’s expansive coverage of the plane crash that killed NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and six others in Statesville. Reporting by Scott Fowler, Chase Jordan, Mark Price and Alex Zietlow anchored the contest entry.
Photographer Melissa-Melvin Rodriguez earned a Top 10 honor for her action photo from a Queens Grant high school boys’ basketball game.
Langston Wertz Jr. was honored for high school beat reporting, and Zietlow also was recognized for his breaking news story on the sale of Rockingham Speedway.
At The State, Jordan Kaye and Tracy Glantz were honored in project reporting; Chapel Fowler earned a Top 10 in short features; Dwayne McLemore and Jeff Blake earned nods for feature photos; and the State was honored as Top-10 digital outlet, with a special designation for excellence in video.
The Observer and News & Observer competed in Division B, which includes news outlets from Baltimore, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Portland and beyond.
The State is in Division C, which includes outlets from Memphis and Knoxville, Tennessee, Fort Worth, Texas, South Bend, Indiana, and Lexington, Kentucky, among others.
This year’s APSE Contest, judged by sports editors and journalists from across the nation, recognized work that was published in 2025. The News & Observer, The Observer, The State and their journalists will be honored in July at the APSE Summer Conference Awards Banquet in Washington, D.C.
This story was originally published February 27, 2026 at 5:15 AM with the headline "News & Observer sports staff honored with multiple national writing awards."