Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com honored for sports coverage
The Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com delivered sports coverage to its readers from every angle in 2024, and recognition followed in the form of several sports journalism awards in recent weeks.
The Associated Press Sports Editors’ annual awards were revealed last week, and the Herald-Leader earned Top 10 recognition in its class for digital sports coverage on its Kentucky.com website as well as for its sports sections in the print edition of the newspaper.
Individually, the Herald-Leader’s University of Kentucky men’s basketball reporter Ben Roberts won Top 10 honors for Beat Writing for his work covering a complete makeover of the Wildcats’ program after a coaching change from John Calipari to Mark Pope.
Jared Peck received Top 10 recognition as well in the category of High School Beat Writing, capturing the spirit of prep sports competition in a year that included Lyon County winning the Boys’ Sweet 16 and Sayre completing its gridiron revival with a state championship.
John Clay and Mark Story each earned Top 10 awards in the Column Writing category, providing commentary on topics from golf to gambling and horse racing to hoops.
Additionally, Clay was recently named Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association for the seventh time.
Works by Roberts and Clay were also honored in January during the presentation of the annual Kentucky Press Association awards.
Assistant sports editor Dennis Varney, UK women’s basketball/high school sports reporter Caroline Makauskas, recruiting/horse racing/soccer writer Cameron Drummond and UK football beat writer Jon Hale were instrumental to coverage recognized for overall digital and print awards.
“It’s an honor to work with such a dedicated and talented staff, and gratifying to see this level of recognition from their national peers,” Herald-Leader sports editor Mathew Graf said. “We don’t take this recognition lightly because it’s a reflection of the value we commit to delivering to our loyal readers every day.”