The St. Tammany Farmer sports section was selected third-best among all newspapers in the state at the Louisiana Sports Writers Association's annual awards ceremony held June 23 in Natchitoches.
The honor is particularly impressive for the weekly newspaper as it was judged in the Open Division. All newspapers, regardless of their staffing levels or circulation, were considered in one category. The Advocate, the Farmer's sister newspaper and a daily based in Baton Rouge, won first place for Best Sports Section. The Shreveport Times, another major market daily, placed second, and The Farmer finished third.
In all, The St. Tammany Farmer placed in the Top 3 in five different categories, four of those awards going to Sports Editor Joseph Halm.
Halm finished second in the Class II Prep Event category for his story about the Archbishop Hannan volleyball team winning its third state volleyball title in four years. Halm also took second in the Open Division Breaking News category for his story about the resignation of Pope John Paul II volleyball coach Danny Tullis following the tragic death of his son, Christian.
Halm also earned third-place honors in Open Class Prep-Amateur Photography for his shot of Northshore Reese Jobert sliding into home after a wild pitch.
Those honors helped Halm finish third in the Class II Prep Writer of the Year standings, which are determined by the number of Top 3 finishes journalists win at the awards ceremony. Class II includes publications with a circulation of 9,999 and fewer.
Louisiana Sports Writers Association awards are presented each summer in conjunction with the LSWA convention and Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame's induction festivities. The awards honor the work of the state's top writers and photographers for 2023 and are judged by leading journalists from throughout the U.S.
For more information on how to subscribe to The St. Tammany Farmer and receive the award-winning sports section within its pages each week, call (985) 898-2323 or (504) 262-5998.