-
The Sun's Nov. 14 sports front page is shown. Grayson Williams was awarded first place recently for sports coverage in Division E.
By The Hartwell Sun
From staff reports
The Hartwell Sun was awarded as having the best sports coverage in its division by the Georgia Press Association, along with four other accolades given out in the 2020 Better Newspapers Contest.
The awards were announced recently via a virtual presentation instead of the usual banquet and conference held each summer.
The Sun’s sports reporter Grayson Williams won first place in the sports coverage category for his work in 2019 in Division E, which includes weekly newspapers with circulations between 3,000 and 5,999.
“Grayson works tirelessly, on many nights and weekends, to tell the story of Hart County’s sports through thoughtful, well-written articles and photography that takes the reader inside the game,” The Sun’s editor and publisher Michael Hall said.
Entries that were judged included coverage of the Hart County Bulldogs’ and Lady Dogs’ simultaneous run to the state championship basketball games, coverage of the Diamond Dogs’ run to the state Final Four and articles and photographs on the Bulldogs second-place finish in football in Region 8-AAA.
“Grayson is well deserving of the award and we look forward to seeing sports return so he can continue the good work,” Hall said.
The newspaper also received a third-place award for headline writing and for the best use of graphics and
illustrations.
Hall also brought home a third place enterprise story writing for an entry that included articles about Tenneco’s exit from the community, the booming poultry business and a dispute between Bowersville and the Hart County Board of Commissioners over a SPLOST payment for an ill-fated speed bump project in Bowersville.
Hall was also awarded second-place in the sports feature photograph category.
“We have a small, but dedicated staff here at The Sun, and it takes everyone to produce the newspaper each week,” Hall said. “I am so thankful to have the support of our advertisers, our staff and, of course, our readers, all of whom help us bring you the local news of your community each week. The Sun has been doing it since 1876 and we plan to continue that for many more years to come. Thank you Hartwell.”