Released May 9, 2005

HATTIESBURG – The University of Southern Mississippi’s student newspaper, The Student Printz, and its staff recently won several awards in both regional and state journalism competition.

The Student Printz took top honors at the Mississippi Press Association Better Newspaper Contest, winning first-place awards in general excellence and eight other categories. Printz Executive Editor Noel Wilkinson was cited for the general excellence win.

Wilkinson took first- and second-place finish in the Best Feature Photograph category, first-place award for Best Front Page, and second-place awards in the Best Graphic and the Best Layout and Design category of the contest.

The Student Printz also took home a first-place finish in the Best Spot News-Investigative category. Other participating student newspapers were from Jackson State University, Millsaps College, Mississippi State University, Mississippi University for Women and William Carey College.

Other award winners in the contest included:

• Sports Editor Curt Yeomans received a first-place plaque in the Best Sports Feature category and a third-place award in the Best Sports News story category.

• Graphic artist Scarlett Spivey won first place in the Best Retail Advertisement category and first and third place in the Best Miscellaneous Advertisement category.

• Rachel Quinlivan, former executive editor who graduated in May 2004, won first place for her coverage of a no-confidence vote for Southern Miss President Dr. Shelby F. Thames by the faculty in the Best Spot News category.

• Former Sports Editor Jarred Florreich, who now works for Southern Miss Media Relations, took second place in both the Best Sports Column and Best Sports News Story categories.

• Former Printz photographer Becka Latimer, who graduated in December 2004 and now works for a newspaper in North Carolina, won first place in the Best General News Photograph category and third place in the Best Sports Photograph category.

• Former Printz Photo Editor Matt Lantrip, who now works for a newspaper in North Carolina, took second- and third-place honors in the Best General News Photograph category.

The Student Printz staff also garnered a top five finish overall at the Southeast Journalism Conference (SEJC) convention in Ruston, La., tying for third place with host university Louisiana Tech.

Altogether, Southern Miss student journalists won a dozen individual awards honoring work done in the past year as part of the annual convention, which brings together student journalists from colleges and universities in seven southeastern states. SEJC combines an off-site competition, where student journalists submit their best work during the prior calendar year in designated categories, with an onsite competition, where they compete head-to-head with students from other schools. Each award is part of a “top ten list” compiled from those who enter each category and carries a certain point total that contributes to the overall ranking.

Among the other awards won by staffers for The Student Printz:

• Anna Gibson, former managing editor of the newspaper and a December 2004 graduate, tied for the No. 1 spot in the Best Feature Writer category. Gibson also ranked fifth in the balloting for College Journalist of the Year.

• “Survival 101,” a summer product created and designed by Wilkinson ranked second in the Best College Magazine category. Additionally, Wilkinson took the seventh-place slot in the running for College Journalist of the Year.

• Matt Lantrip, who served The Student Printz in the fall as photo editor and graduated in December, finished fifth in the Best Press Photographer category.

• Printz cartoonists Abbenyi Wa Abbenyi and Russ Farris finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Best News-Editorial Artist/Illustrator category.

• Scarlett Spivey, the graphic artist for The Student Printz, took sixth place in the Best Advertising Staff Member running.

• Christopher George, who writes primarily movie reviews for The Student Printz, finished 10th in the Best Arts and Entertainment Writer category.

In the onsite competition, three staffers brought home honors, which included:

• Brittany Brown, Printz news editor, who won first place in the newswriting onsite competition.

• Managing Editor Lexey Collins took home a second-place finish in the first amendment essay onsite contest.

• Curt Yeomans, who is sports editor for The Student Printz, placed second in the sportswriting category of the onsite competition.

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