At the Lumina News, Wrightsville Beach’s weekly newspaper, a wrote several pieces that were awarded by the North Carolina Press Association.
Diver swims under fire to end shooting episode at marina
1st place – News Feature Writing (Division A – Circulation less than 3,500) – 2016
It was a typical Thursday afternoon at Wrightsville Marina when diver Chris Wilshire was working on cleaning a boat at the marina. Suddenly, an all-too-familiar crack in the air brought Wilshire back to his Marine Corps training.
“I heard the gunshots, heard the rounds whistle by,” Wilshire said. “They came in one after the other. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.”
The next sound on April 28 wasn’t a whistle, it was a crack. With more than nine years’ experience as a Marine that included two tours of duty in Afghanistan, Wilshire understood what that meant.
“When you hear a round whistle, you’re all right. When you hear it crack, it’s dangerously close,” Wilshire said.
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Wrightsville Beach responds to military jet crash
1st place – Online Breaking News Coverage (Division A – Circulation less than 3,500) – 2016
UPDATE: Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue first to reach Marine Corps pilot in ‘heroic rescue’
VIDEO: Sailor overcomes injury to sail the East Coast
2nd place – Best multimedia project (Division A – Circulation less than 3,500) – 2016
As a young man in Burlington, Vermont, Johnny Markwith was given a 14-foot sailboat, and soon it was impossible to separate him from the waters of Lake Champlain. That gift from a neighbor started a lifelong love of sailing so strong that even a paralyzed arm couldn’t weaken it.
Instead, a debilitating injury made Markwith’s love of sailing that much stronger. It’s something people in Wrightsville Beach recently discovered after the seafarer spent several weeks anchored in town, offering locals the sailing experience while sharing his story of perseverance and perspective.
“I love taking people out sailing. I want to encourage people to experience sailing,” said Markwith, who turned an injury that cost him use of his right arm into a vagabond lifestyle on the water. “It’s a way of life for me. When I feel the raw power of the sails, there’s something very majestic about it.”
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UNCW researchers still don’t know what killed great white shark found on Wrightsville Beach
3rd place – General News Reporting (Division A – Circulation less than 3,500) – 2016
Researchers still don’t know what killed the great white shark found stranded on Wrightsville Beach on Monday, Dec. 7, though marine biologists from the University of North Carolina Wilmington will test samples recovered from the carcass during a dissection on Tuesday, Dec. 8.
The shark was approximately 11 feet long and weighed approximately 687 pounds, UNCW researchers announced on Wednesday, Dec. 8 after conducting a necropsy on the shark that was watched by nearly 100 students, including some who came from East Carolina University and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. UNCW said this was a “rare specimen” for researchers to discover.
Dr. Thomas Lankford, a UNCW associate professor of marine biology, said the shark likely died three or four days ago before finally washing on shore Monday morning.
“It’s unusual,” Lankford said. “There’s not been a case of a stranded white shark around here in some time.”
Boy Scout bikers complete cross-country journey
3rd Place – News Feature Writing (Division A – Circulation less than 3,500) – 2015
For 10 weeks, nearly 4,000 miles, through the winds of Wyoming, the heat of Kansas, and the altitude of Colorado, seven Boy Scouts on bicycles rode 70 miles a day striving to reach one destination: Wrightsville Beach.
On Wednesday, the crew members of Bike Loud finished their cross-country journey at the Blockade Runner. They were greeted by a raucous crowd of friends, family and supporters, there to cheer their accomplishment and the $30,000 they raised for the Be Loud! Sophie Foundation, an organization that supports cancer patients and their families at University of North Carolina Hospitals.
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