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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s student publication The Alestle won 15 awards at the annual Illinois College Press Association’s (ICPA) Convention in Chicago, including second place in the general excellence category in its division. The Alestle is in the most competitive division in the ICPA awards, with almost half of the total members competing as non-dailies with school enrollment of more than 4,000.

“I appreciate that our hard work was recognized in this way. Getting second in general excellence was the highlight of the whole convention and my Alestle career so far,” said Alestle Editor in Chief Madison Lammert.

The Alestle’s 14 other awards were primarily in design and photography categories.

The Alestle earned first place for its headline writing and feature page design. Online Editor/Opinion Editor Jordyn Nimmer also took first place for editorial cartoon in the open division, in which all schools compete, regardless of size.

Sports page design took a third place award, as did former Alestle staffers Spencer Peck, Bre Booker and Jakob Ruffner in the spot news photo, sports photo and feature photo categories, respectively.

Honorable mention recognition went to in-depth reporting and the entertainment supplement. Multimedia Editor Mackenzie Smith was recognized for her work in feature photo.

Former staffers Joann Weaver and Hannah Miller were recognized for their design work in the graphic illustration and sports page design categories, respectively.

Booker and Peck were also honored for their work in sports game coverage and general news photo, respectively.

 “I’m so proud of our staff. We have had a hard year of serious staff shortages. The fact that we are back in the general excellence category shows how hard The Alestle staff works,” Program Director Tammy Merrett said.

The Alestle competed with 33 Illinois colleges and universities in 12 open categories. Additionally, The Alestle competed in 21 categories against 15 non-daily student newspapers on campuses with more than 4,000 students including Columbia College in Chicago, Loyola University, Northern Illinois University, DePaul University, Illinois State University and others.

Nearly 1,000 entries in the competition were judged for excellence by working journalists across the country.

Photo: The Alestle Program Director Tammy Merrett.