PICTURE OF THE YEAR: Pepperdine’s Jason Walberg, #12, gouges the eyes of Brigham Young University’s Jonathan Tavernari, #45, during the first half of the game. No foul was called on the play. Photo by Chris Detrick

If you’re not in the insular world of photojournalism, you may not be aware that Tribune photographer Chris Detrick is one of the most talented photojournalists in the world. Really. This spring’s award season has brought Chris a wheelbarrow of awards including a third place for his sports portfolio in the international World Press Photo competition. Chris’s photo above took first place just about everywhere, and today took top honors in Sports Shooter’s Annual Contest. From their site:

“It was a unanimous decision by the judges because it has everything that a winning sports action photo should have – peak action, impact, interesting subject matter, and good composition…” said contest judge Donald Miralle about Detrick’s photograph.

Chris will be representing us at this summer’s Olympics in Beijing.

Another Tribune award in the Sports Shooter contest was an Award of Excellence given to my “Run Forrest Run” photo:

The winners gallery is quite impressive, with many friends of the blog also winning. You can see the rest of the winning photos by clicking here.