The Clarion staff earned nine awards, including three first-place finishes, at the Associated Collegiate Press Best of the Midwest College Journalism Convention held in Minneapolis on Feb. 21-23.

The Madison College student newspaper won first-place in Best of Show for Two-Year College Newspapers with its Feb. 19, 2020, issue. It was the fifth-straight year that The Clarion earned the first-place award in this category.

The Clarion’s website (www.theonlineclarion.com) received a fifth-place Best of Show award competing against both two-year and four-year schools.

In addition, the newspaper received a sixth-place award for a special section on homelessness it produced with writers from Natasha Kassulke’s investigative journalism class last spring.

Six individual awards were received by staff members of The Clarion. The individual categories were open to staff members from all publications attending the convention.

Design director Anica Graney and sports editor Christina Gordon both earned two individual awards. Graney won first place in page design for the Oct. 16 front page that featured an article about the new virtual reality equipment being used in classes. She also won sixth place in editorial/commentary for a light-hearted opinion piece about National Hugging Day.

Gordon placed third in sports story for feature article about Madison College baseball player Pierson Gibis. She also won ninth place in the news photo category for a picture of a WolfPack golfer.

Sean Bull and Britton Downing won first place in the multimedia package category for a written story, photograph and video addressing volunteer opportunities available with the Clean Lakes Alliance.

Amara Gobermann earned a fifth-place award in editorial/commentary for an opinion piece entitled “Black History Should Be Taught.”

The awards were presented on Feb. 23 following the three-day conference in which students attended sessions led by Minneapolis area media professionals and college media advisors.