Santa Cruz Sentinel Sports Editor Jim Seimas was awarded fifth place and freelance photographer Raul Ebio received eighth place from the Associated Press Sports Editors in its annual contest for work published in 2024.

The APSE — the nation’s premiere organization for sports editors at newspapers and websites — announced top-10 winners in February and last week revealed finalists’ rankings.

The Sentinel competed in the C Division, a bunching of publications with the third-highest circulation numbers.

Seimas was honored in the long feature category for his narrative on Aptos’ Judi Oyama, a 65-year-old mother of two who continues to shine as Hall of Fame slalom skateboarder.

Ebio was honored in the action photo category for artistically capturing Aptos High swimmer Alexia Fajardo competing in the 100-yard backstroke at the Central Coast Section Championships in San Jose on May 4.

It is Seimas’ 28th national award and Ebio’s second.

APSE contest winners will be honored at the 2025 APSE Summer Conference banquet at the Courtyard Minneapolis Downtown in Minnesota on June 28. First-place winners will receive a plaque. The second- through 10th-place finishers will receive frameable certificates.

Outrigger

IVF World Distance Championships >> Scotts Valley High junior Annika Kiesby, has been selected to compete for the U.S. Junior 19U women’s outrigger team at the IVF World Distance Championships in Niteroi, Brazil, on Aug. 13-21.

Kiesby, who competes on the Falcons’ swim team and hold a 5.0 grade-point average, has been training with coach Aimee Spector in Redondo Beach and Newport Beach on weekends over the past seven months and will continue to do so until the competition.

Volleyball

Celebration of Life >> A celebration of life will be held for longtime official Mark Brewer, also a former volleyball coach and player, on May 10 at 11 a.m.

The event will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 220 Elk Street in Santa Cruz. Attendees are encouraged to bring finger food to share after the service in the Cultural Hall.

Brewer, 64, died of kidney failure on March 27.

Men’s volleyball

Division III Tournament Selection Show >> UC Santa Cruz (19-8) was unsuccessful in its bid to secure an at-large berth to the upcoming NCAA Division III Tournament on Monday.

Cal Lutheran (21-5), Juniata (29-4), Messiah (25-3), Springfield (22-4) and Vassar (22-6) were the five at-large selections.

The Banana Slugs closed their season with a five-set loss to Cal Lutheran, the defending national champion, on Saturday.

The Division III Championship will be held at the Cregger Center in Salem, Virginia, on April 25-27. The tournament begins with the play-in round on Thursday.

Men’s tennis

UCSC 5, East Texas Baptist 2 >> The Banana Slugs (10-10 overall) secured a 3-1 record during their road trip to Georgia, which concluded on Sunday.

Senior Andrew Tjoa, and juniors Radin Sadeghi, Benjamin Wang, Mayur Nookala, and Arjun Tandon earned singles wins in straight sets against the Tigers (10-3)

UCSC closes its regular season at Salisbury (12-2) in Maryland on May 1 at noon.

Beach volleyball

No Attitudes >> Three Santa Cruz teams placed first in the respective divisions at the No Attitudes tournament at Main Beach in Santa Cruz on Saturday.

Allison Barnes and Cruz Hibbard (coed novice), Aaron Lodge and Dale Ahnes (men’s doubles) and Clara Bay Marinelli-Watkins and Mayla Miller Spahn (teen’s doubles) were the local winners.

Scotts Valley’s Connor Dunham and Angie Carreras (coed intermediate doubles) won their division, as did San Leandro’s Mikayla Nolasco and Mico Arroyo (teen doubles), and Seaside’s Brian Soto, Liz Wyrsch, Chris Kramer and Kaicie McMurray (four person).