LAWRENCE — The Kansas Scholastic Press Association is proud to announce the winners of the 2017 Regional Contests, which rewarded the best student journalism from among 2,500 entries gathered from around the state.

In the Regional Contest, students from 86 different schools competed in 19 different categories in 12 different classifications organized by geography and school size. KSPA will award more than 1,400 awards for entries into the contest.

From Central Plains High School, the following students won awards:

Janae Ryan, 1st Place, Headline Writing
1st Place, Sports Writing
1st Place, Yearbook Sports Writing

Kylee Kasselman, 1st Place, Copy Editing
3rd Place, Yearbook Sports Writing
Honorable Mention, Sports Photography

Cassidy Crites, 2nd Place, Yearbook Copy Writing
3rd Place, Advertising
Honorable Mention, Sports Photography

Avery Hurley, 3rd Place, News Writing
Honorable Mention, Academics Photography

Kayla Hass, Honorable Mention, Yearbook Copy Writing
Honorable Mention, Editorial Writing

Colton Potts, Honorable Mention, Cutline Writing

Six university campuses throughout Kansas hosted the contests Feb. 22 and 23. This year Central Plains High School competed at the Fort Hays State University location.

“We consider the Regional Contests to be one of our most important annual events both for students to receive feedback on their work and also for students to compete with one another,” said Eric Thomas, KSPA executive director. “Teachers who organize and enter their students into the contest give their students a great opportunity to see how their work compares to the work of others.”

KSPA enlists the help of journalism teachers, professional journalists, university faculty members and other journalism experts to judge the entries.

Any student who earns an award in the Regional Contest advances to the KSPA State Contest on May 6 at the University of Kansas. Based on results from the State Contest, KSPA will determine the top school in 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A.