UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Two Penn State senior journalism majors finished in the top five of the sports writing competition as part of the 2021-2022 Hearst Journalism Awards Program, often referred to as the “Pulitzers of college journalism.”
Sebastien Kraft, who wrote about playing club baseball in Paris and trying out for the French national team, finished second and Andrew Destin, who wrote about the team from Hawaii at last year’s Little League World Series, finished fifth.
The sports writing competition was the latest in a yearlong series of monthly journalism competitions. The Journalism Awards Program, now in its 62nd year, also includes two photojournalism, one audio, two television and four multimedia competitions. The program offers up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends annually.
Penn State’s top finishes in the competition from earlier this year include:
- Noah Riffe, Noah Riffe, third place, photojournalism;
- Preston Shoemaker, seventh place, explanatory writing; and
- Preston Shoemaker, fifth place, television features (based on two submissions: one, two).
Both Kraft and Destin are members of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State. The Curley Center, established in 2003 and housed in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, explores issues and trends in sports journalism through instruction, outreach, programming and research.
The Curley Center's undergraduate curricular emphasis includes courses in sports writing, covering the business of sports, sports data, sports broadcasting and sports information. Along with core courses, the Curley Center places an emphasis on internships and hands-on experience with broadcast, multimedia and print outlets as well as with league, sport and team publicity operations.
Kraft and Destin earned scholarships for their success, and the Bellisario College earned matching grants as well. There were 119 entries from 66 schools submitted for the sports writing competition.
Taking a slightly longer view, Penn State students have earned more combined points than any other school in four of the last six years in Heart’s sports writing category.
In addition, Penn State has the highest average overall finish in the Hearst competition of any school in the Big Ten Conference and any school in the Northeast during the past decade and a half.
With three of five writing competitions complete, Penn State sits fourth in the overall standings behind Arizona State, Florida and North Carolina. The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $4,000 and $2,000 respectively. The final intercollegiate winners will be announced after the completion of all five writing competitions in May.
There are 103 universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs that are eligible to participate in the Hearst monthly competitions.