Leader-News awarded honors by press association peers

The El Campo Leader- News tied for third place in the "Sweepstakes," or best all around category, during a contest sponsored by the South Texas Press Association.

Awards were presented Saturday in Corpus Christi during the 81st Annual STPA Convention.

The Leader-News competed in the semi-weekly newspaper division that had at least a dozen newspapers from South and Central Texas entered.

A tie between the Leader- News and the Beeville Bee- Picayune was announced as both newspapers had 425 points. Points are given to first, second and third place awards.

Only 25 points ahead was the Copperas Cove Leader-Press with 450. Sweepstakes was awarded to the Round Rock Leader with 500 total points.

Lifestyle Editor Quala Matocha received her newspaper's only first place award in the Family/Social Pages category. One entry included a feature on the musical Merta family; another included a feature on the volunteer efforts of a multiple sclerosis victim.

The Leader-News brought home three second place awards in the highly competitive contest.

Jerry Aulds won second place in the Humorous Columns category. One column, titled "Ladder prompts prom prowler fear," was about Aulds' snoring, his wife's yen for redecorating and prom photos... The other winning entry was titled, "Nap time: toughest course for firsttime students."

Chris Barbee won a second place in Feature Writing. The contest entry featured an interview with Amanda Hurst shortly after the shooting death of her husband, Game Warden Justin Hurst. The story was titled, "Infant son will learn of father's love, dedication to duty, widow says."

Shannon Crabtree and Brenda Sommer teamed up to bring home a second place in Feature Photos. Crabtree's winning picture was of a Silly String fight at the St. Philip Carnival, and Sommer's entry was a photo of a couple of dogs taking a stroll with a guinea pig. Both pictures ran in color on Page 1.

A third place was awarded the Leader-News for General Excellence, possibly the most coveted award given since it covers every aspect of the newspaper, from photos to news and feature stories to display and classified advertising to page design.

Kris Bagley and Crabtree joined forces in Sports Photos to land a third place award.

Bagley's winning photo was of Ricebird football player Jac Axel stretching to haul in a pass from quarterback Dakota Pietsch during a 7-on-7 match last summer with Wharton. Crabtree grabbed the judge's attention with an unusual photo during a Louise football game in which five Hornets were lined up behind a Woodsboro ball carrier.

The Leader-News also won three Honorable Mention certificates.

One was for News Coverage and credit went to Sommer for a story titled, "Litigation Legacy - El Campo lawsuit not first filed

..............by former CDC chief," concerning former City Development Corporation executive director Earl Joy.

Honorable Mention also went to Crabtree in the News Pictures category for an automobile accident showing an El Campo firefighter comforting a baby while paramedics assisted a family member.

Finally, the Leader-News took an Honorable Mention in the Headline Writing category. Winning entries were: "CDC says age discrimination not reason for lack of 'Joy'"; "Replacing 418 bridge burns hole in plans;" and "Another winner by Chance" about Chance Nohavitza.

Publisher Chris Barbee, a past president of the STPA, attended the convention and accepted the awards on behalf

of the newspaper.

Judges were members of the

................

Arkansas Press Association.