Vail Daily wins 16 awards, including the grand prize for best in class at the Colorado Press Association competition

For the second time in three years, the Vail Daily has been named the best newspaper in its class in the state after winning 16 awards in the Colorado Press Association’s annual journalism contest..

After winning 14 individual awards in the editorial, advertising and photography/design categories for its work in 2023, the Vail Daily was presented with the General Excellence and Editorial Excellence awards.

The awards were presented Saturday in Northglenn at the conclusion of the Colorado Press Association’s 146th annual meeting.Of the 14 individual prizes, 12 were for first place and two for second place.

The General Excellence award is given to the best in class across all three competition categories, while the Editorial Excellence award is given to the newsroom in its classification whose work stands out as the best among that year’s entries.

The Vail Daily received its first General Excellence Award in 2022.

“Our team strives every day to produce quality work to serve readers, advertisers and the community,” said Mark Wurzer, publisher of the Vail Daily. “We thank our readers and advertisers for their commitment. We don’t do our work for awards, but peer recognition is a good testament to our team and the good work they do.”

The Vail Daily competes in Class 2 with daily newspapers with similar circulation.

Vail Daily publisher Nate Peterson and longtime reporter John LaConte accept the General Excellence Award Saturday at the Colorado Press Association’s annual awards ceremony. This year’s three-day convention was held in Northglenn.

The Vail Daily award winners are:

editorial

Best editorial special section, 1st place: Wren Bova, Malisa Samsel, Sandie Aveil, Mark Bricklin, Brenda Himelfarb, Brent Bingham for Vail Valley Magazine
Best humorous column contribution, first place: Jay Wissot
Best Investigative Story Package, First Place: John LaConte for “Investigation into officer’s arrest brings to light internal investigation into another Vail Police officer”
Best Opinion Article, First Place: Mark Lewis
Best Reporting on Social Justice or Equality, First Place: Ali Longwell for “Simply living authentically is a small resistance”
Best Sports Column, First Place: Nate Peterson for “Notes on GOATs”
Best Sports or Sporting Event Story, First Place: Ryan Sederquist for “Battle Mountain takes revenge and wins 4A football crown”

Advertising

Best Advertising Campaign, first place: Jordan Lugibihl, Gretchen Lentz, Tony Mauro for Kind Bike & Skis
Best Advertising Campaign, Second Place: Jordan Lugibihl, Mikayla Walsh, Emily Peterson for Novus Glass
Best Digital Display, First Place: Gretchen Lentz, Emily Peterson for Capital Roofing

Photo and design

Best Cover Design, First Place: Wren Bova, Dominique Taylor, Carly Arnold for EAT Magazine
Best Feature Photo, First Place: Chris Dillmann for “Ice Cold Focus”
Best Page Design, First Place: Amanda Swanson for “Shiffrin crown”
Best Page Design, Second Place: Amanda Swanson for “Women of Jazz”