![The sophomores were recognized on the field instead of walking across the stage during their doubleheader. They received their diplomas and a picture of themselves playing during their career at Seward. [Pictured left to right are Dylan Day, Reed Thomas, Jase Schneider, Mason Martinez, Gannon Hardin, Brody Boisvert, and Zach Walker]](https://crusadernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/WEBDSC_0275-900x454.jpg)
![Marcos Montoya takes a break from working on his personal health from working at the gym. He says “That’s [the gym] my second home, basically. I’m there more than I am at my own house.”](https://crusadernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/web1UpCloseMarcos1-1200x800.jpg)
Crusader wins All-Kansas award
F
or the third year in a row, Crusader has won the All- Kansas award as the best two-year news team in the state.
The Kansas Collegiate Media Awards announced the annual awards Friday via a zoom conference. The Crusader staff made their mark in the competition winning 28 individual awards. They also place second, behind Wichita State University, in a new overall category for Social Media Presence.
This contest has a variety of categories ranging from photography, column writing and headline writing. Media students across the state compete using projects from the spring 2020 and Fall 2020 semesters. Sophomore Josh Swanson is a veteran staffer and has competed in this contest in the past.
“Individually winning [an award] feels motivating and it makes me want to push myself to do better” Swanson has been on the Crusader staff since the fall of 2019. Swanson was awarded third place in the category of Profile writing for his story The Bird Whisperer.
Denise Perez won a total of six awards including Sexual assault can happen anywhere. Brooklynn Bauer received second place for sport action in photography for her shot of a baseball game last fall. Destiny Vasquez brought home two awards for social media and put together the multimedia news story Bring on the Heat against four-year school.
The spring 2020 staff struggled to come up with stories from their homes as the campus was locked down for Covid. The fall of 2020 also brought on a new set of challenges, the entire staff was brand new and with no experience in journalism whatsoever. But that was not the only thing that was a challenge.
Mary Ramirez explained that with the pandemic in full swing and the normal, active campus was like a ghost town. This had the new journalist feeling like the work that they were doing was not the best.
“To be honest, I was surprised [we won] because last semester we [the staff] were all brand new and it was harder for us to do any stories because of all of the restrictions that were in place so it was hard for us to grip” Ramirez, a staff reporter and sophomore reflected on the challenges that the crew faced.
Crusader works in room AA131 to put together the student media website. The club has been the voice of SCCC students since 1969. They have won a total of six All-Kansas awards, three coming in the last three years.
A list of all awards earned by the Crusader staff are as follows:
Kansas Collegiate Media Awards
Overall Two-Year News
All-Kansas and Gold Medal – Crusader News
Overall Social Media Presence (all colleges and universities)
Silver Medal – Crusader News
Two Year Colleges Categories
Audio Feature
First Place – Elvis Polvon and Rebecca Irby – Saints Stories: Advice to Younger Self
Breaking News
First Place – Calen Moore – Students witness panic during a crisis
Honorable Mention – Preston Burrows – Seward gets a D for social Distancing
Column Writing
Third Place – Victoria Martins – International students feel the pandemic
Feature Writing
First Place – Denise Perez and Maggie Ibbara – Sexual assault can happen anywhere
Honorable Mention – Denise Perez and Rebecca Irby – Ballroom dancing waltzes into SCCC
Headline writing
First Place – Denise. Perez – Ballroom dancing waltzes into SCCC
Second Place – Denise Perez – It’s a Ruff life
Third Place – Mary Ramirez and Krisi Anderson – Bring on the Heat
Honorable Mention – Destiny Vazquez – No application? No graduation!
Honorable Mention -Preston Burrows – Seward Gets a ‘D’ for s social distancing
Profile Writing
First Place – Annette Meza – Hickman appointed dean of technical school
Third place – William Swanson – The Bird Whisperer
Review
Honorable Mention – Denise Perez – Review: The invisible man lacks answers
Sports Feature writing
Honorable Mention – Amberley Vervalin – SCCC students dive deep
Sports News/Game Day
Honorable Mention – Amberley Vervalin – COVID-19 cancels spring sports
Sports Action Photography
Second Place – Brooklynn Bauer – Baseball plays Dodge City
All Colleges and Universities Categories
Multimedia Feature story
First Place – Denise Perez, Maggie Ibarra, Preston Burrows, and Rebecca Irby – Sexual assault can happen anywhere
Second place – Calen Moore, Denise Perez, and Rebecca Irby – Ballroom dancing waltzes into SCCC
Multimedia News story
First Place – Preston Burrows – “Seward gets a D for social distancing”
Second place – Preston Burrows, Annette Meza – “Students react to taking classes online”
Honorable Mention – Crusader Staff – “Bring on the Heat!”
Portrait Photography
Honorable Mention – Adilene Escobar – “Spooky Halloween”
Social media reporting series
Second place – Victoria Martins and Rebecca Irby – SCCC #newnormal and #alwaysathome
Social Media single post
First Place – Destiny Vazquez – Daily covid emails
Third place – Destiny Vazquez – “Welcome back”
Honorable Mention – Annette Meza – Valentine’s Day
Honorable Mention – Rebecca Irby – Spring finals parody
Brooklynn Bauer is a 19-year-old sophomore and is a Liberal local. She is majoring in Ag Business and Communications. Along...
