'The Eagle' wins No. 6

The Eagle’s website, csceagle.com, also won its second straight Excellence in Digital Medium award.

“The Eagle” staff earned awards in 17 of 19 individual categories, and scored points in 15 of 19 categories en route to earning 49 points for its title.

Eleven different student journalists from “The Eagle” scored points across 14 categories, while the staff garnered points in three other categories.

“The Eagle” earned three first-place awards, eight second places and 10 third places. “The Doane Owl” finished second in the best overall category with 41 points, while “The Collegian,” of Hastings College finished third with 38 points.

The NCMA’s newspaper division has eight writing categories and 11 visual categories. Adviser Mike Kennedy said “The Eagle” staff submitted entries in seven of the eight writing categories, earned awards in all seven, but scored in only five. On the visual side, the staff entered 10 of 11 categories and scored points in all 10.

“Of course I am proud of them,” he said. “Hey, this staff brought home The Eagle’s sixth straight Best in Overall Excellence title. This is a young staff and these young people, like their predecessors, are top-shelf in all facets of their college lives. Our advertising director and each editor are all full-time students, most carry 15 or more hours each semester, and all either have part-time jobs or participate in sports or other extra-curricular activities, on top of the work they do at ‘The Eagle.’ I know how many long hours they spend covering the campus, then bringing those stories and pictures together to produce a quality newspaper for their readers. 'The Eagle' is a product they, and the college, can and should be proud of.”

Judging for NCMA’s newspaper division is completed by media professionals from states outside Nebraska and include “The Wyoming Tribune Eagle,” “The Houston Chronicle,” “The Topeka Capital-Journal,” “The Rapid City Journal” and “The Standard Times,” New Bedford, Massachusetts.

“I’ve said before that these awards are the measuring stick by which our staff is judged,” Kennedy said. “For the sixth year in a row, the professionals who will hire our students have decided ‘The Eagle’ staff is the best. I cannot think of any better assessment of our students or our program.”

Hulinsky picked up three second-place awards, two thirds and two honorable mentions and was part of the Editorial Board whose entry finished third in Editorial Writing. Advertising Director Angelina Webb, senior of Colorado Springs, Colorado, captured first and third in ad design. Opinion Editor Janelle Kesterson, junior of Bridgeport, took first in Feature Writing, earned an honorable mention in Editorial Writing and was part of The Eagle’s Editorial Board that took third in that category.  

Former Opinion Editor Robert “Spike” Jordan, and former feature writer and csceagle.com Editor Hannah Clark, captured second and third places respectively in the Cartoon category. Both graduated in May 2015. Clark is now employed as an office assistant with Dr. Joel Hyer, dean of the School of Business, Entrepreneurship Applied and Mathematical Sciences, and Sciences, and Jordan is a reporter with the Douglas Budget in Wyoming.

In his first year as Sports Editor, Preston Goehring, sophomore of Carpenter, Wyoming, earned two second-place awards and a third-place award in the design categories, and two honorable mentions in Sports Reporting.

Another newcomer, first-year News Editor Justine Stone, sophomore, of Maywood, captured two second-place awards in design – one for infographics and one for inside-page design.

Melanie Nelson, junior of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, took second and earned an honorable mention in News Writing.

Freshman Photo Editor Sara Tweet of Crawford, took two third-place awards, one in the News Photograph category, the other in the Feature Photograph category.

Her predecessor, former Photo Editor Teri Robinson, who graduated in December 2015, took first and earned an honorable mention in the Feature Photograph category. Robinson, a native of Alliance, is now employed as a copy editor at “The Star-Herald.”