The staff of the Augustana Observer broke their own record last weekend by winning 19 awards from the Illinois College Press Association (ICPA) in Chicago.
Last year, the Observer staff won 18 awards from ICPA and took first place in the category of General Excellence. The staff took third place in the same category at the awards banquet on Feb. 20. Other staff awards included an honorable mention in the category of front page design.
First place winners included former A&E/Features Editor Sarah Ritter in the category of features story for her feature on domestic violence and safe houses, photo journalist Ian Magnuson and former Observer photo journalist Hoang Nguyen in the category of photo essay, Magnuson in the category of sports photo and Co-Editor-in-Chief Ryan Silvola in the category of spot news photo.
Second place winners included Co-Editor-in-Chief Shylee Garrett in the category of column excluding sports, Asst. Sports Editor Katie Canning in the category of sports game story for her coverage of the Augustana men’s basketball team advancing to the NCAA D-III championship, Head Photographer LuAnna Gerdemann in the category of feature photo and Nguyen in the category of sports photo.
Third place winners were Ritter in the category of sports feature story, former photo journalist Lauren Mainz in the category of spot news photo and Silvola in the three categories of sports feature column for his discussion of the gender gap in sports, in-depth reporting and general news photo.
Ritter also won honorable mention in the category of sports feature story, as well, while Garrett received an honorable mention award in headline writing.
Photojournalist Janie Le and Garrett took third place and honorable mention, respectively, in the Shoot Chicago competition hosted by ICPA on Feb. 19, as well.