Hazelwood earns three first-place AP awards

COLUMBUS — Reflector sports editor Mark Hazelwood received three first-place awards in the annual Ohio Associated Press Media Editors' contest. Hazelwood earned five awards total in this year's contest, which considered submissions for journalistic work done in the 2023 calendar year. The awards banquet was held on July 21 at the Villa Milano Banquet & Conference Center in Columbus. Hazelwood's awards were in the Division I category, which included 42 total newspapers with circulation of 7,999 or less. The other four divisions (II-V) had 40 different newspapers combined with circulations ranging from 8,500 and up. Individually, Hazelwood took first place for Best Sports Feature Writer and Best Sports columnist. He was third in the Best Sports Writer category. His content on the Paul Brown statue unveil also earned first place in Best Special Sports Section. The Reflector's general sports coverage was second place for Best Daily Sports Section. In column writing, Hazelwood was recognized for opinion pieces on Norwalk girls basketball standout Brooklyn Davis, the crowd following at the Norwalk girls' Division II regional championship game; the death of former Willard boys basketball coach Bob Haas; and the career and retirement of St. Paul football coach John Livengood. In feature writing, Hazelwood took first for stories on St. Paul girls basketball's Molly Ridge playing through injury; Norwalk soccer freshman scoring sensation Claire Spettle; NHS volleyball siblings, Mac and Sawyer Wineman; and Norwalk football's Ben Rothhaar making a game-saving hustle play. For best sports writer, Hazelwood's submissions included a feature on South Central's Isaac Blair becoming an All-Ohioan in three sports; St. Paul football's long road to the third round; and game coverage of Norwalk's girls basketball team winning a district title; and St. Paul's Kole Maxwell striking out 20 batters in a game. AP award judge comments for Hazelwood included the following: For best feature writer: "Mark has a wonderful way of drawing the reader into his stories, and they are a terrific example of a hyper-local focus." For best columnist: "Great character development, great use of quotes." For best special section: "Great special! Good content, ties and flows well, really great." And, for best daily section: "Incredible job capturing so many aspects of local community sports regularly. Well done." Hazelwood also recently earned multiple awards for a third time in four years in Ohio's Best Journalism contest. Sponsored by the Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus Society of Professional Journalists chapters statewide, Hazelwood took second place in the Best Sports Reporting award and in "Best of Show" for Best Special Section for circulation print newspapers of 60,000 or less. Competing in the same categories as media organizations in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Dayton, Hazelwood was recognized for three feature stories along with the Brown statue coverage. The awards banquet will be held on Aug. 24 in downtown Cleveland. In his 19-year writing career — including the past seven at the Reflector — Hazelwood has earned 93 writing awards from the Associated Press, the Ohio SPJ and the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association.