Front Porch has won seven awards for journalism excellence, including three first-prize honors, in the Society of Professional Journalists’ four-state Top of the Rockies competition.

The awards were announced Saturday night at the conclusion of SPJ’s Region 9 Conference at the Slate Hotel in Denver.

The annual contest, organized by the SPJ Colorado Pro Chapter, was entered by more than 80 news outlets in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico. More than 1,850 entries were submitted. Judging was by members of the Los Angeles Press Club.

Front Porch competed in the “small newsrooms” category against news outlets with five or fewer full-time staff members.

Among Front Porch’s first-place winners was Mary Jo Brooks in the category of Education Feature for the story “Deprived of Commencement Four Years Ago, These High School Grads Have Moved On.” The judges commented: “An emotional but triumph-themed report to which everyone can relate. This is a sad but inspiring report the entire country should read.”

Kara Mason also won a first-place award in the category of Business News for “Northwest Aurora Residents Search for Solutions to Walmart Closure.” The judges commented: “Excellent coverage of the Walmart closures and their effects on the community as well as the others stores like Walgreen’s.”

And Courtney Drake-McDonough took first-place honors in the Beat Reporting category for a series of feature stories about local restaurants: “Doubling Down on Business at Stanley Marketplace,” “Area Dumpling Shops Wrap Up Culinary Artistry,” and “Latin American Cuisine Takes a Deep Dive into Storytelling.”

Front Porch editor Linda Kotsaftis won two second-place awards, for Business News (with Mason) and Business Feature.

Here are all of Front Porch’s prize-winning stories, along with links to the articles.

Business News

• 1st place – Kara Mason – “Northwest Aurora Residents Search for Solutions to Walmart Closure”
• 2nd place – Kara Mason and Linda Kotsaftis – “Liquor Store Owners Say Grocery Wine Sales Have a ‘Significant’ Impact on Business”

Business Feature

• 2nd place – Linda Kotsaftis – “Local Business Owners Brew Up a Community Connection”

Beat Reporting

• 1st place — Courtney Drake-McDonough – Restaurants (a selection of stories) – “Doubling Down on Business at Stanley Marketplace,” “Area Dumpling Shops Wrap Up Culinary Artistry,” “Latin American Cuisine Takes a Deep Dive into Storytelling”

 Education Feature

• 1st place — Mary Jo Brooks – “Deprived of Commencement Four Years Ago, These High School Grads Have Moved On”

Sports News

• 2ns place – Sarah Huber – “Neighborhood Teammates Lead McAuliffe to DPS Win”

Sports Feature

• 3rd place — Martina Will – “Team Venezuela Offers a Chance to be Children Again”

Click here for a roundup of SPJ’s Top of the Rockies awards and a spreadsheet of all the winners.