The Lincoln County News won two first-place photography awards at the Society of Professional Journalists annual contest.
The awards were announced at the SPJ’s banquet in Lawton Saturday night.
Editor Brian Blansett won the first place award for the best sports photo of 2021. It was a shot of Chandler player Drake Rodriguez trying to make a catch in the end zone while being held by a player from Crossings Christian.
The photo appeared in the Sep. 30, 2021, edition.
Mario Holland and Blansett won the first-place award for best photo layout for a package of photos they took of football scrimmages involving Chandler, McLoud, North Rock Creek and Wellston. The package appeared in the Aug. 26, 2021, edition.
Rick Hester and Blansett won the third-place award in the same category for a package of sports photos that appeared in the Oct. 21. The contest was open to all 170 newspapers in the state as well as other publications.