By Colt Langley/managing editor
The Collegian staff received awards in both state and national competitions at two recent conferences.
National awards came from the Society of Professional Journalists and state awards came from the Texas Community College Journalism Association.
First-place winners in the national SPJ Mark of Excellence competition went to Daniel Worthington for editorial cartooning, Jennifer Covington for sports photography and Matt Moyer for feature photography.
Steve Knight, former Collegian editor-in-chief, was a national finalist in three categories: general news reporting, editorial writing and in-depth reporting.
Collegian adviser Eddye Gallagher attended the ceremony in Las Vegas with Knight and said it was an honor for her to see The Collegian and Knight be recognized.
“It was exciting watching Steve go on stage to pick up his awards and receive recognition,” Gallagher said. “After the awards lunch, several journalists congratulated Steve and told us it was rare for one school to get so many national honors.
Current editor-in-chief of The Collegian, Shelly Williams, was the featured speaker at the TCCJA conference after winning the group’s Journalist of the Year award in March.
In her speech, Williams spoke of her internship during the summer at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and the stories she covered, including a violent storm and a girl with a rare genetic disorder.
“It was a very emotional speech,” she said. “I kind of relived those events from the summer, so I cried.”
Williams was also awarded third place for a live contest in news reporting.
Mackenzie Ashton placed first in the sports action photo category while Moyer received his first place in the picture page/panel category.
Second-place winners were Ashley Bradley in feature writing and Knight for in-depth/investigative and editorial writing. In addition, Moyer won second for feature photo, and Casey Holder placed second for sports action photo.
Third-place winners were Sandy Hill for in-depth/investigative, Troy Bassett and Colt Langley for sports news, Marley Malenfant for sports feature and Keisha McDuffie for advertising.
Honorable mentions went to Williams for news writing, Bassett for sports news and Holder and John Jones for sports photo.
The Collegian received third place for its website and an honorable mention for headline writing.
Collegian adviser Chris Whitley said he was happy to see The Collegian be appreciated.
“It’s really rewarding. We work really hard on this paper,” Whitley said. “Often times on Fridays, we’re the last to leave. The building is empty when we’re finished. So to see these efforts get rewarded is really gratifying.”
