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Students from the Sam Houston State University Mass Communication Department won several awards at the annual Texas Intercollegiate Press Association state convention in Fort Worth, Texas.

The group competed in more than 20 on-site competitions where they won the inaugural Director’s Trophy, which goes to the school that earns the most on-site competition points. This year’s convention was the first to feature such an award.

“We know SHSU has really good students but when they go into competitions like sports reporting or Spanish news and dominate the field, you realize how truly outstanding they are. I couldn’t be more proud of each one of them,” Debbi Hatton, adviser for KSHU 90.5 the Kat, said. “Every mass communication department in the state wants to win this trophy, so we definitely have a target on our backs. Our response…bring it!”

“SHSU’s Mass Communication Broadcast students have become the students to beat at TIPA,” LeeAn Muns, mass communication broadcast general operations manager, said. “The other competitors know that our students work and train hard to succeed and perform at their peak. I couldn’t be more proud of all of our students. They have put Sam Houston State back on the map as the premier place to study Mass Communication.”

The students are members of SHSU student media: KSHU 90.5 The Kat, KSHU Channel 7 News, and the Houstonian student newspaper.

There were 489 students from 66 colleges and universities competing in the on-site contest. The only TIPA member schools not competing were University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Texas A&M – Prairie View and Texas Southern University.

Eleven students won an on-site award, which helped SHSU secure the sweepstakes award:

1st Place – Sports Writing for the Radio – Trent Scott

1st Place – Sports Writing for TV – Bryce Leasure

1st Place – Radio Advertising – Jacqui Villafranco

2nd Place – News Writing for TV – Bryce Leasure

2nd Place – Breaking News Video Package – Kessler McLaughlin

2nd Place – TV Advertising – Pete Petitti

2nd Place – Radio News Anchor – Meagan Herring

2nd Place – PR Press Release – Misti Jones

3rd Place – Editorial Cartoon – Kassidy Turnpaugh

3rd Place – Spanish Radio News Anchor – Jacqui Villafranco

HM (4th Place) – TV News Anchor – Stephen Green

HM (4th Place) – Feature News Photo – Connor Hyde

HM (4th Place) – Print News Writing – Jay Jordan