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Forty-three Kansas student-journalists placed in the various write-off contests last weekend at the JEA/NSPA Fall Convention in Washington, D.C.

Eight students earned “Superior” rankings, the highest ranking in the competition, while 19 earned “excellent” rankings and 16 earned “honorable mention.”

In all, 99 Kansas students entered the competition. That number represented the nation’s seventh-largest competitive contingent, behind Missouri, California, Virginia, Texas, Indiana and Illinois.

The 43 percent of Kansas students who were recognized is higher than the national average (34 percent) of students who entered the competition. In all, 2,267 students entered the competitions, and 769 won awards. Of those award winners, 15 percent received “Superior” rankings, while 19 percent of Kansas entrants earned the top honors. Nationally, 30 percent of entrants won “Excellent” ratings, while 44 percent of Kansans earned the same rating.

In sum, Kansans scored much higher than the national average.

As a whole, Kansas’s 120 current JEA members ranks Kansas third in the nation, behind Texas’ 246 members and California’s 212 members. Missouri, with 110 members, is the only other state with more than 100.

Here are the 42 Kansas students who earned national awards last week in D.C.:

Newswriting: Phoebe Unterman (Shawnee Mission East High School), Honorable Mention.

Feature Writing: David Catt (Shawnee Mission Northwest HS), Excellent; Connor Cape, (Blue Valley HS), Excellent; and Tim Shedor (Shawnee Mission East High School), Excellent.

Sports Writing: Ryan O’Toole (Blue Valley High School, KS), Excellent.

Review Writing: Tori Freisner (Blue Valley High School), Excellent; Alison Bailes (Shawnee Mission West High School), Honorable Mention; and Sarah Darby (Mill Valley High School), Honorable Mention.

Editorial Cartoon: Conner Ahnen (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Honorable Mention.

Commentary Writing: Jeremy Allen (Shawnee Mission Northwest HS), Excellent; Jack Hochman (Shawnee Mission South High School), Honorable Mention.

News Editing/Headline Writing: Allison Hammond (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Excellent.

Newspaper Layout: Emma Pennington (Shawnee Mission East High School), Honorable Mention.

Newsmagazine Layout: Aubrey Leiter (Shawnee Mission East High School), Honorable Mention.

Yearbook Copy/Caption Sports: Ed Spaunhorst (Shawnee Mission Northwest HS), Superior; Kelly Dobbs (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Excellent; Gretchen Hess (Blue Valley High School), Excellent.

Yearbook Copy/Caption Academics: Sarah Clancey (Blue Valley High School), Superior; Maggie Henriksen (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Honorable Mention.

Yearbook Copy/Caption Clubs: Aleksandra Milewski (Mill Valley High School), Superior; Taylore Blevins (Piper High School), Excellent; Libby Brown (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Excellent; Megan Kuharich (Blue Valley High School), Excellent; Evan Nichols (Shawnee Mission East High School), Honorable Mention.

Yearbook Copy/Caption Student Life: Jayce Apsley (Satanta High School), Excellent; Annie Basham (Shawnee Mission North High School), Excellent; Jen Kranjec (Blue Valley High School), Excellent.

Yearbook Layout Theme: Annie Carpenter (Shawnee Mission West High School), Superior; Katy Roth (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Superior.

Yearbook Cover/Endsheets: Jessie Lueck (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Honorable Mention.

Literary Magazine Poetry: Samantha Hallack (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Excellent.

Computer Design Headline: Ashley Benson (Shawnee Mission West High School), Honorable Mention; Amy Jo Maphet (Skyline Schools), Honorable Mention.

Yearbook Sports Photography: Kevin Buie (Shawnee Mission Northwest HS), Superior.

Newspaper Sports Photography: Katie East (Shawnee Mission East High School), Superior.

Yearbook Student Life Photography: Erin Mihanovic (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Honorable Mention.

Newspaper News/Feature Photo: Caitlyn Hopkins (Shawnee Mission Northwest HS), Honorable Mention.

Photo Story: Hannah Williams (Shawnee Mission Northwest HS), Honorable Mention.

Photography Portfolio: Ashley Lane (Shawnee Mission Northwest HS), Honorable Mention.

Broadcast News Story: Ellie Mohr (Blue Valley Northwest High School, KS), Excellent; Allyson Myers (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Excellent.

Broadcast Sports Story: Connor Huggett (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Superior.

Videography: Shelby Mitchell (Blue Valley Northwest High School), Excellent.