By BILL EICHENBERGER
Newsday

Mark Conley of the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Melanie Gerik-Fordyce of the Palm Beach Post, Scott Kendrick of the News Herald of Willoughby, Ohio, and Mike Sherman of the Daily Oklahoman have been selected as members of APSE's first Sports Management Institute class.

They were selected from a strong field of 18 candidates and will begin a yearlong program of instruction at the APSE convention in Philadelphia.

SMI is designed to train the next generation of sports editors in a more intensive and systematic way than has ever been attempted in the past.

Using the collective experience and expertise of the APSE membership, the Sports Management Institute will arrange mentoring sessions for SMI class members that cover the gamut of skills needed to become a top-notch sports editor. The first SMI class will be honored at next year's APSE convention in Orlando, at which time the second class will be announced.

APSE president Bill Eichenberger of Newsday, Chris D'Amico of the Newark Star-Ledger, Glen Crevier of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Emilio Garcia-Ruiz of the Washington Post served on the committee that selected the SMI winners.

Click on the names below to read their bios.

• Mark Conley

• Melanie Gerik-Fordyce

• Scott Kendrick

• Mike Sherman