The College of Journalism and Mass Communications is proud to announce the four students selected to receive the Lynn and Dana Roper Sports Writing Competition awards.
Kylee Sodomka, a senior double majoring in broadcasting and sports media and communication from Grand Island, Nebraska, took first place. Her entries were a Nov. 28, 2022, Nebraska News Service story, “From a Small Town Band to Playing in Ireland,” and “Monday Message: Rhonda Revelle’s Weekly Inspiration Posts on Twitter.” Sodomka will receive a $2,000 award for her first-place finish.
Cole Peterson, a junior sports media and communication major from Omaha, Nebraska, took second place. His entries included a Nov. 18, 2022, Nebraska News Service story, “Danilchenko Serves Up New Challenge With Nebraska Tennis,” and “Strand Drives Nebraska Forward with Historic Start.” Peterson will receive a $1,500 award.
Gavin Struve, a junior advertising and public relations and sports media and communication major from Omaha, Nebraska, won third place. His entries were “Jamaican transfers add to promising future of men’s track and field program” which ran in the Daily Nebraskan on Feb. 8, 2022, and “Black Friday provides beacon of light for Nebraska football” which ran in the Daily Nebraskan on Nov. 25, 2022. Struve will receive a $1,000 award.
Marissa Kraus, a senior journalism major from Colombia, Missouri, was awarded fourth place. Her entries included an Omaha World-Herald story published on Oct. 3, 2022, “Amid changes, Lincoln East runner Berlyn Schutz’s love of the sport never has,” and a July 15, 2022, story from The Denver Post, “Drag racers Leah Pruett, Brittany Force reflect on the progress of women in the sport.” Kraus will receive a $500 award.
The Roper Sports Writing Competition was judged by Paul Daugherty, a retired sports columnist at the Cincinnati Enquirer; Bill Doleman, broadcasting and sports media lecturer at the CoJMC; Lynn Hoppes, former sports editor at the Orlando Sentinel and Bob Strickley, former public safety, justice and investigative editor at the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Established in 2001, the Lynn and Dana Roper Sports Writing Competition is an annual sports reporting competition open to all graduate and undergraduate students in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
