Two Cal State Long Beach students won first place prizes in the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Award contest.
Stefan Agregado, photo editor for the Daily 49er, and Steven Carcano, sports photo editor for the Daily 49er, won in the regional competition in the categories of Breaking News Photography and Sports Photography, respectively.
Agregado said he found out about his win for his photo, “CSU students arrested in protest,” from a friend.
“It flew over my head because I thought she was just congratulating me on my nomination,” Agregado said. “Then I read the email and turned around to thank her again, for real. It was a good day.”
Winners were announced and recognized during the Region 11 SPJ Spring Conference held in Universal Studios. A banquet was held awarding the honorees with certificates.
Region 11, which includes California, Arizona, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada and the Mariana Islands, had 600 entries, in various categories ranging from Editorial Cartooning to Television Reporting.
According to Lauren Rochester, SPJ Awards Coordinator, photography entries were judged upon three main categories: technical aspect, composition and enterprise.
Initiative and ingenuity were among other things that were crucial in the judging process.
First place winners will be moving up to the national round of judging. Winners will be announced in late April.
Carcano said he hopes his photo “’49ers’ late goal wins Big West soccer championship” wins the national competition.
“It’s a good photo,” Carcano said. “It captures the team’s sense of accomplishment.”
The Mark of Excellence Awards honor the best collegiate journalism in the U.S. Comprised of 12 regions, SPJ was founded in 1909 and aims at promoting free flow of information and works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists.
The Daily 49er and Dig magazine also won awards in 10 categories this year at the California College Media Association, the most in the past 10 years.
A CCMA awards banquet is scheduled for Saturday, April 21 at CSU Fullerton to announce which place the winners received.