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Longtime BCR Sports Editor Kevin Hieronymus received four awards in the 2023 IIlinois Press Association Contest.
Hieronymus had two of the top three sports stories in the non-daily division, including a first-place award for his story on the tragic death of boat racer Rich Krier.
His story on the “Lady Bruins win state softball championship” received third place with the judges noting, “Nice lede.”
Hieronymus received two second-place awards, including for his sports column, “Hieronymus’ Hypothesis.”
Columns submitted were on “Jett Wedekind gives it the old college try,” longtime baseball coach John Cruz hangs them up and the late Princeton High School basketball star Rick Allen, who overcame his own personal trials and made it his life passion to help others overcome theirs.
Judges said they were “Three really strong columns about folks with interesting sports stories – both past and present.”
The sports feature Hieronymus wrote, “Volley for a cure is personal,” sharing the story on Princeton volleyball players Kelsea Klingenberg and Bella Clevinger, who are childhood cancer survivors, received a second-place award.
Judges said, “There’s a fine line writing about an illness such as cancer. And when two members of the same team have battled the dreaded disease, it takes a deft touch to present the story.”