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The Rider News won seven awards in the statewide New Jersey Collegiate Press Association Contest. Two section editors, Alexis Schulz, a sophomore journalism major, and Thomas Albano, a junior journalism major, each won in two categories. The newspaper took first and second in News Writing among four-year colleges.

Schulz won first for “Breaking through the fourth wall” and “N.J. bills take aim at sexual assault on campuses,” while Casey Gale, senior journalism major, took second for “One step closer to strike or solution” and “Striking, or striking a deal?”

Schulz also won third place in the Biography/Personality Profile category for “Palestinian journalist tries to keep his balance.” 

In the same category, Albano won second for “Torres bids farewell to coaching career” and “One Giant Leap: Fearless in the face of cancer, student athlete gets back on track.” Albano also won third place in Sports Writing with his story, “For assistant track coach, a huge finish.” Last month, Albano won a Mark of Excellence Award from Society of Professional Journalists for “One Giant Leap.” The competition was in Region 1, which includes college newspapers in nine Northeastern states.

“It gives me great pleasure to see members of The Rider News staff receive these awards,” said Christopher Brooks, executive editor of The Rider News and senior journalism major. “All of the hard work they put in every week deserves to be recognized. Each of these writers plays a large part in making our newspaper great each and every week and I’m grateful for their work.”

The newspaper’s second blue ribbon came in New Jersey for Emily Klingman and Alyssa Naimoli, both sophomore journalism majors, who won first place in the Feature Writing category for “City Gardens cultivated N.J. underground music scene.”

Additionally, opinion editor Samantha Sawh, sophomore journalism major, won second place for her editorials, “Appreciate culture, don’t appropriate” and “Opening our eyes to diverse needs.”

All prize winners, with the exception of senior Gale, will be returning to The Rider News next year. Thomas Regan, sophomore journalism major, will become next year’s executive editor, and Schulz will become managing editor.