The Excelsior Springs Standard welcomes Bryce Mereness this week as its full-time sports editor and photographer.
Mereness, a Liberty resident and 2014 Northwest Missouri State University graduate, comes to The Standard from The Platte County Citizen, where he served as sports editor from 2014 until the present.
He previously worked for newspapers in Atchison, Kan., and St. Joseph and was both chief sports reporter and sports producer for the Bearcat Update at KNWT-TV in Maryville.
Mereness, 27, and his wife Molly are expecting their first child in May.
“We are extremely happy to have someone with Bryce’s skills and passion for sports joining our newsroom,” said David Knopf, the Standard’s managing editor. “Every town, particularly one of Excelsior Springs’ size and previous state-level accomplishments in high school sports, deserves thorough coverage of its teams, its recreational sports, the Mineral Water Bowl and its sports personalities, past and present.”
Mereness’s beats will include Excelsior Springs High School sports, the city’s parks and recreation programs, Excelsior Springs Golf Course, sports feature writing and photography, and spot news coverage.
Internally, he will be responsible for taking and editing his photos and digitally composing his sports pages.
“High school sports writing serves many functions in the community,” Knopf said. “In addition to keeping residents updated on how their teams are doing, it brings recognition to the sacrifices and effort contributed by the athletes themselves and their coaches. It also helps build community pride by drawing attention to the achievements of Tigers teams and the careers of Excelsior athletes that continue after high school.”
Mereness’s addition to the staff allows Jae Juarez, longtime writer/photographer for The Standard, to focus on community coverage and schools. In the absence of a full-time sports writer, Juarez has divided her time between community reporting and sports coverage.
“Jae deserves credit for doing so much for so many ESHS students who wouldn’t have otherwise received coverage,” said Knopf. “We’re all excited to see that coverage continue and expand as Bryce starts and she turns her considerable energy and attention to news writing and feature stories.”
“I’m extremely proud of this announcement and am happy to welcome Bryce to our news team,” said Standard Publisher Brian Rice. “His qualifications and experience will be the third piece to our restructured news team that will undoubtedly take our coverage to its next level. There is an electricity in the air and an excitement in our news room. I can’t wait to see Bryce’s contributions to our team and can’t wait for our readers to experience the positive changes we’ve made.”
Mereness’s first day was April 27.
–Standard Staff