The Lincoln County News won the Sequoyah Award last weekend at the annual Oklahoma Press Association convention.
The award is presented each year to the top nine newspapers from the association’s 170-plus members.
It was the second consecutive Sequoyah Award for the Lincoln County News staff and the sixth in the last seven years.
Additionally, the newspaper won first-place awards for layout and design, sports coverage and photography.
The contest was for work published in 2022 and was judged by the Indiana Press Association.
Individual staffers won 10 awards, including: - Stephanie Woolsey, an intern last year, who won first and second place in news photography. Her first-place award was for a photo of a dancer holding a baby at the Sac and Fox PowWow.
“You can see the love in this photo,” wrote the judge. “Well done!”
Her second-place photo was of the winning catfish at the Sinkin’ Teeth noodling tournament.
- Rick Hester and Brian Blansett, who won first place in photo feature with a page of black-and-white photos in the Sep. 22 edition.
“This photo essay was indeed a winner and showcases how black and white still has its place,” the judge wrote. “Every photo can stand alone, but as a grouping it’s outstanding.”
- Mario Holland, Jennifer Pryor and Blansett, who won third place in photo feature page.
- Blansett, who won first and second in sports photography, first and third in feature photography, first in Page 1 design and third in column writing.