Casa Grande High School dominated the 61st annual Redwood Empire Excellence in Journalism ceremony honoring the best of the North Bay's high school journalists Thursday.
Casa Grande earned first place honors in 10 of the 14 individual categories, including in-depth reporting, sports photography and design and layout.
Santa Rosa High School's Hannah Croft, a four-year veteran of the Santa Rosan and this year's editor-in-chief, was named outstanding journalist.
The Casa Grande Gazette has a long run of journalistic success, something co-editors Matt Long and Kylie Buck said they felt compelled to honor as seniors.
"Everyone in the class is really dedicated to the paper and really proud of everything we do," said Long, who will enroll at UCLA in the fall.
The team of about 31 Casa students put out nine issues this school year. Some of their award-winning stories tackled subjects such as the economy's effect on Casa students and their families, a controversial new tardy policy and profiles of Casa students living and studying with autism.
Croft, a four-year veteran on the Santa Rosan, works with a smaller staff but is no less passionate about putting out a quality product.
"This is worth it. I feel very honored," the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo-bound senior said. "It's been such a trying year with college applications. But I'm really proud of the paper."
Press Democrat crime reporter Julie Johnson addressed the audience of about 140 students and advisors, urging them to follow their passions and not be afraid if they don't know all the answers.
"Your job is to not necessarily be the one who knows, but to ask the questions," she said. "Trust your gut."
The following students won first place awards:
Advertising — Diane Wang, Casa Grande; Cartoon — Danny Maggioncalda, Sonoma Valley; Column — Julie Sanchez, Montgomery; Design and Layout — Casa Grande; Editorial — Nick Sweeney, Healdsburg; Feature Story, Human Interest — Sean Kimball, Suzanne McNamara, Nina Udomsak, Kylie Buck, T.J. Grayson, Brittany Burnett and Matt Long, Casa Grande; In-Depth Reporting — Kylie Buck, Caitlin Griffin, T.J. Grayson, Lainey Skolnik, Brittany Burnett and Bridget Kowalski, Casa Grande; News Story — Kiara Covarrubias and Anisa Li, Casa Grande; Photography, Feature — Matt Long, Casa Grande; Photography, News — Matt Long, Casa Grande; Photography, Sports — Elvis Wong, Casa Grande; Review — Elisabeth Schyberg, Petaluma; Sports Feature — Cristian Jaramillo and Jyoti Pal, Casa Grande; Sports News — Phil Johnson, Casa Grande.
Casa Grande, the Overall Champion, also won an award for Overall Excellence. Croft was named Outstanding Journalist.
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