Collegiate Times staff wins 23 Virginia Press Association awards

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 22, 2010 – The Collegiate Times, the independent student-run newspaper that serves the Virginia Tech community, received 23 awards in the Virginia Press Association's (VPA) College Newspaper Contest.

The awards, presented for work published in 2009, were announced April 8, 2010 at the VPA headquarters in Glen Allen, Va.

"I think the most important part of our recognition from the state is how varied our winning content is," said 2009-10 Collegiate Times editor Sara Mitchell of Vienna, Va., a junior majoring in political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. "The fact that our awards come from writing, design, and photography shows the depth of our staff and its talents."

The following awards were made by the VPA to the Collegiate Times:

• Critical writing, 1st place, Ryan Arnold of Lynchburg, Va., a senior majoring in communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
• Feature writing, 1st place, Caleb Fleming of Warrenton, Va., a junior majoring in economics in the College of Science
• Feature writing, 2nd place, Arnold
• Feature writing, 3rd place, Taylor Shapiro of Middleburg, Va., a 2009 graduate in English in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
• General news writing, 1st place, Philipp Kotlaba of Erlangen, Germany, a sophomore majoring in psychology (http://www.psyc.vt.edu/) in the College of Science
• General news writing, 2nd place, Kelsey Heiter of Williamsburg, Va., a sophomore double-majoring in English and communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
• General news writing, 3rd place, Justin Graves of Fredericksburg, Va., a sophomore majoring in sociology in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
• Sports writing, 2nd place, Ray Nimmo of Virginia Beach, Va., a senior majoring in communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
• Sports writing, 3rd place, Brian Wright of Springfield, Va., a 2009 graduate in communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
• Column writing, 3rd place, Chad Van Alstin of Ithaca, N.Y., a senior majoring in communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
• Photo story or essay, 1st place, Luke Mason of Rockville, Va., a sophomore majoring in computer science in the College of Engineering
• Sports photo, 1st place, Mark Umansky of Fairfax, Va., a junior majoring in mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering
• Sports photo, 2nd place, Travis Church of Powhatan, Va., a master's student in macromolecular sciences and engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech
• Sports photo, 3rd place, Daniel Lin of Blacksburg, a sophomore majoring in general engineering in the College of Engineering
• Feature photo, 1st place, Mason
• General news photo, 2nd place, Lin
• Spot news photo, 3rd place, Mason
• Excellence of general makeup, 1st place, Collegiate Times staff
• Excellence of page design, 2nd place, Bethany Buchanan of Virginia Beach, Va., a junior majoring in communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
• Excellence of front page, 3rd place, Buchanan
• Illustrations, 1st place, Sara Spangler of Raleigh, N.C., a senior double-majoring fine arts with the visual communication design option in the School of Visual Arts and communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
• Illustrations, 2nd place, Mina Noorbakhsh of Vienna, Va., a sophomore majoring in international studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
• Illustrations, 3rd place, Noorbakhsh

• Sandra S Broughton
• Assistant Director for Marketing & Communications
• 540-231-3467
• siemens@vt.edu