Pioneer staff received more than 28 awards during the Oklahoma Collegiate Media Association 2015 Annual Conference and Awards Luncheon at the Oklahoma State University April 3.

Pioneer Senior Writer Jorge Krzyzaniak said he was not surprised at the number of awards.

“We work really hard to put out a good product and it was reflected at the ceremony,” he said.

Online Editor Lauren Daniel was awarded Journalist of the Year for a 2-year college.

“I was really excited and very humbled,” she said. “Out of [the many] who entered, I won. I have been working here for about five semesters so just to see all my hard work and time be rewarded is awesome.”

Pioneer Videographer Jake McMahon won his first award ever.

“Winning felt amazing,” he said. “I’ve never won an award before, but even if I had, this would still feel good.”

Awards and recipients are:

Bryce McElhaney

Pioneer Editor:

— 1st Place, Reporting Portfolio

— 3rd Place, Feature Writing

— 3rd Place, General News Writing

Jorge Krzyzaniak

Pioneer Senior Writer:

— 1st Place, Sports Reporting

— 2nd Place, Sports Reporting

— 1st Place, Feature Writing

— 1st Place, Column Writing

— 1st Place, Reviews

Lauren Daniel

Pioneer Online Editor:

— Journalist of the Year, 2-year schools

— 1st Place, Investigative Reporting

—2nd Place, Feature Writing

— 2nd Place, General News Writing

— 3rd Place, Reviews

3rd Place, Feature Photography

— Honorable Mention, Column Writing

Ethan Cooper

Pioneer Photographer:

— 1st Place, Feature Photography

— 2nd Place, Feature Photography

— 1st Place, News Photography

— 1st Place, Photography Portfolio

— 1st Place, Sports Photography

— Honorable, Mention Sports Photography

Jake McMahon

Pioneer Videographer:

— 2nd Place, Column Writing

— Honorable Mention, Reviews

Nathan Scroggins

Pioneer Cartoonist:

— 1st Place, Cartoons

— 2nd Place, Cartoons

Candice Shafer

Former Pioneer Community Writer:

— 1st place, General News Writing

Along with the individual awards, the Pioneer won second place for overall paper in the two-year schools category and first place for online paper in the open category.

OCMA awards are given to student media colleges and universities in Oklahoma. This year, 15 colleges attended from across the state.

According to the website, ocms.okstate.edu, its purpose is to promote and improve student media at Oklahoma’s colleges and universities.

For more information about OCMA, visit http://ocma.okstate.edu.

To contact Katie Axtell, email onlineeditor@occc.edu