A total of 13 awards were presented to The Clarion and its staff members on June 24 as the Wisconsin Newspaper Association’s 2021 Better Collegiate Newspaper Contest winners were announced. 

The newspaper won four first-place awards and finished second in the general excellence category, finishing behind the Marquette Tribune. The UW-Oshkosh Titan Advance was third in the general excellence category, while The Daily Cardinal from UW-Madison received honorable mention. 

Kaleia Lawrence, who was editor in chief of The Clarion during the 2021-22 school year, finished third in the WNA’s collegiate journalist of the year competition. 

Lawrence won a first place award for editorial writing in Division B for editorial entitled “Diversity in Athletics.” She also placed third in Division B for an infographic she created reflecting diversity in collegiate athletics. 

Paige Zezulka won first place in Division B in the sports story category for an article about the automated camera systems now in use by the college’s athletic department. She also took thid place in Division B in the feature story category. 

Other first place awards went to Ivan Becerril-Gutierrez and Chris Bird. Becerril-Gutierrez won first place in the Division A page design competition. Bird won first place in the Division B feature writing category. 

Hailey Griffin won two awards for her coverage of Olbrich Garden’s GLEAM art show, winning for both her article and a video she created to accompany the story. She placed second in the Division A arts and entertainment story competition and received an honorable mention in the Division B multimedia competition. 

Eimy Gonzalez won second place in the Division B coronavirus coverage competition, while Anica Graney placed third in the Division B editorial writing category. Finally, Steven Andriantsiratahina took third place in the Division A advertising category.