When Rich Forsgren began assembling an award-winning photography department at the Erie Times-News in the early 1990's, I was pleasantly surprised to receive four or five top-notch photos taken at high school sporting events. Prior to that time, those of us in the newspaper's sports department had become used to receiving just one or maybe two photos from each assignment.

The younger photographers, armed with first-class cameras and equipment, thrived at the big events, and I always looked forward to scanning the images they brought back. In a way, it was a shame to only have the space to use one or two shots. Occasionally, for the truly major events -- a state championship game, or something along those lines -- we might get the extra space to run a photo page. But they were the exceptions.

Forsgren has left his position as photo supervisor to help run the company's computer and technical operations, but Christopher Millette, his successor, is still inspiring the photo staff to produce first-class work -- and lots of it.

Erie Times-News Sports Managing Editor Matt Martin has also devised an excellent way to showcase much of this high-quality art. Today's edition of Varsity, the Times-News' weekly tabloid which serves as the region's high school sports authority, features a collage on the cover called, "Spring Moments." It's a beautiful compilation of photos taken at high school track and field meets, baseball and softball games, lacrosse games and other events.

As nice as the cover is, it only whets readers' appetites for what's inside. Dozens of quality photos are featured across five pages, providing readers with a colorful pictoral record of the games and events played in the Erie region this spring.

Varsity remains a great success story for the Times-News. Started several years ago by Martin and Rick Sayers, the newspaper's executive editor, it stretches across the district -- District 10, that is -- the high school division in which local schools compete.

I can attest to Varsity's popularity from personal experience -- two of my sons are high school students, and they and their friends pass copies of Varsity from desk to desk at their school. It's not often a daily newspaper in America can excite a group of teenagers, but Varsity achieves this distinction on a regular basis.

Finally, I can tell you from my experience as an old sports editor that I'm envious of Martin for finding a way to use so many of these great photos. Varsity provides a scrapbook of sporting memories in almost every issue, but always on the days when it takes stock of an entire season, as it does today.

-- Kevin Cuneo

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