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Clay Today’s Randy Lefko wins statewide photo award

Posted 8/10/22

It’s often been said Sports Editor Randy Lefko will go to great depths to get a good photograph or story. The Florida Press Association noticed it, too, by voting a picture of Clay High state …

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Clay Today’s Randy Lefko wins statewide photo award


Posted

It’s often been said Sports Editor Randy Lefko will go to great depths to get a good photograph or story. The Florida Press Association noticed it, too, by voting a picture of Clay High state champion Sara Stotler No. 1 during one of her training sessions ahead of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials in Omaha, Nebraska the best in the state. He positioned himself on the bottom of the pool to get a unique shot as she swam overhead.

Photo of swimmer Sara Stotler earns Randy Lefko first-place award from FPA

PONTE VEDRA BEACH – Understanding the nature of an Olympic-caliber swimming athlete's need to focus and concentrate on her final week of practice, the thought of an underwater photo of Clay High swim state champion Sara Stotler was in Lefko’s mind. He wanted to do a quick series of pictures both in and out of the pool, but not upset her training regime for the upcoming U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Nebraska.
The final photo was published June 3, 2021, under the headline "Casias, Stotler target Trials surge" and it became the top sports photo of the Florida Press Association's C Division newspapers. Lefko received a trophy and several compliments at the annual awards ceremony on Aug. 5 at the Marriott Sawgrass.
"I had a busy week already at midstream due to our Clay Today preseason football magazine in full production mode and I was reluctant to attend for that reason – at first," said Lefko, the 10-year sports editor for Clay Today. "I went knowing I was in the top three finalists, but also curious to see what the photo was that they selected. The fact I didn’t know prior to the event which made it more exciting."
Clay Today also was recognized for a sports columns. Managing Editor Don Coble won second place for his column honoring former Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden.
Lefko said his and Stotler's schedule almost didn’t provide a window for the photo. After two failed attempts, and at the behest of her coach, Kyle Casias, the former Fleming Island High swim standout and now coach at Planet Swim in Ponte Vedra Beach and Lefko also had to work around Stotler’s schedule at the University of Tennessee.
Casias called Lefko and said he could arrange 15 minutes during her warmup at the Argyle Pool.
"Kyle being a high-level athlete was very cognizant of the mental and emotional importance of regimen for preparations and was very forthcoming with allowing me to get in the pool with Stotler for the shot," said Lefko. "At first, Stotler was a little wary and I felt like she was distracted so I knew I had to get in, get the pic and get out and gone so she could focus on her preparation."
Lefko managed to attend the awards ceremony in Northeast St. Johns County and still be at Keystone Heights on time for a football photo shoot later that afternoon.
Lefko was joined by Clay Today owners Graham, Julie and Hugh Osteen and former publisher Jon Cantrell.
"As I watched the production of the winners for the bigger newspapers, dailies and bi-weeklies, it became apparent that football pictures were not a prime target of the judges," said Lefko. "There was a wide variety of photo subjects in the top three prizes for the three divisions."
"I was honored to get the first-place and what made it more special was that Jon Cantrell, our former publisher, who was the past president at Florida Press Association and he was the final person to congratulate me for the winner's photo,” Lefko said. “Jon first hired me after a few years as a sports correspondent, then he gave me free rein to use as much imagination as I could muster. I truly owe Jon Cantrell a big thank you for his confidence in my abilities and also his support for some crazy ideas over the past 10 years."