The Southern California News Group’s sports department won five major national awards this week in the industry’s highest circulation category for 2022 as selected by the Associated Press Sports Editors.

Olympics and investigations reporter Scott Reid was recognized among the top 10 in investigations, the 16th time he’s earned the distinction, for his reporting on Teri McKeever, a former Olympic and Cal swimming coach, recently fired from Cal after Reid’s reporting brought to light allegations of bullying and emotional abuse going back decades.

Reid was also recognized among the top 10 beat writers in the country for his coverage of Olympic sports.

The department as a whole was awarded a top 10 in special sections for its Super Bowl preview section, designed by Lombardo Rodriguez. Reporting in the section included stories from Kevin Modesti, Gilbert Manzano, Jim Alexander, Adam Grosbard and John W. Davis.

In photography, Will Lester had a top 10 honor for sports feature photography and Hans Gutknecht received a top 10 honor in action photography.

The Southern California News Group sports department serves 11 newspapers in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, with the largest circulation coming from the Orange County Register. In addition to covering major pro and college teams in Southern California, the department covers more than 600 high schools in the circulation area.