TOR 2020 – 75,000 plus

SPJ’s Top of the Rockies winners 2020
Print: Circulation of more than 75,000
Radio: Large market stations, Television: Large market stations

Category Name / Award / Credits / Organization / Entry Title

Single Page Design First Place Heidi Perry Deseret News Rudy Towering
Single Page Design Second Place Jennifer Swanson Albuquerque Journal Jennifer Swanson
Single Page Design Third Place Heather Tuttle Deseret News The North Pole

Front Page Design First Place Leah Derrington Albuquerque Journal Leah Derrington
Front Page Design Second Place Heidi Perry Deseret News 150 Golden Moment
Front Page Design Third Place Todd Adams Salt Lake Tribune A1 on March 17, 2019

Feature Page Design First Place Rudy Mesicek Salt Lake Tribune “Losing her religion”
Feature Page Design Second Place Heather Tuttle Deseret News Life Cycle
Feature Page Design Third Place Heidi Perry Deseret News Galaxy’s Edge

Business: Enterprise Reporting First Place Jason Blevins Colorado Sun Backcountry.com sues anyone who uses its namesake. Is it bullying or just business?
Business: Enterprise Reporting Second Place Tamara Chuang Colorado Sun Electric vehicles
Business: Enterprise Reporting Third Place Katie McKellar Deseret News Salt Lake Chamber invite to pay $10k to talk inland port.

Multimedia Story First Place Robert Browman, Roberto E. Rosales, Angela Kocherga Albuquerque Journal 8 Hours on the Border
Multimedia Story Second Place Robert Browman, Martín Salazar, Roberto E. Rosales, Elise Kaplan, Katy Barnitz, Matthew Reisen, Cathryn Cunningham Albuquerque Journal 72 Hours – Life & Addiction in Albuquerque
Multimedia Story Third Place Lee Davidson, Jessica Miller, Tony Semerad, Brian Maffly, Suzanne Paylor, Christopher Cherrington Salt Lake Tribune How Utah has changed this decade

Spot News Photography First Place Rick Egan Salt Lake Tribune Green Ravine Fire plane
Spot News Photography Second Place Francisco Kjolseth Salt Lake Tribune Green Ravine Fire
Spot News Photography Third Place Trent Nelson Salt Lake Tribune Port protest

Sports Photography First Place Kristin Murphy Deseret News Dive
Sports Photography Second Place Scott Winterton Deseret News High Kick
Sports Photography Third Place Leah Hogsten Salt Lake Tribune Donovan’s water bottle

News Photography First Place Spenser Heaps Deseret News A Different Path
News Photography Second Place Jim Thompson Albuquerque Journal Best friend to the end
News Photography Third Place Jim Thompson Albuquerque Journal Father accused in baby’s death released

Feature Photography First Place Francisco Kjolseth Salt Lake Tribune Bison roundup
Feature Photography Second Place Kristin Murphy Deseret News New Home Revealed
Feature Photography Third Place Leah Hogsten Salt Lake Tribune Firefly

Investigative/Enterprise Reporting First Place Courtney Tanner Salt Lake Tribune How the University of Utahs police department treated female victims and officers
Investigative/Enterprise Reporting Second Place Jessica Miller Salt Lake Tribune Violence at Red Rock Canyon School
Investigative/Enterprise Reporting Third Place Christopher Osher, Jennifer Brown Colorado Sun No Colorado school districts meet federal safety standards for behavioral health staffing, investigation shows

General Reporting- Series or Package First Place Jennifer Brown, Kevin Simpson Colorado Sun Parked: Half the American Dream
General Reporting- Series or Package Second Place Edmundo Carrillo Albuquerque Journal The Gary Gregor child abuse case: ‘Justice has been served’
General Reporting- Series or Package Third Place Kevin Simpson, Shannon Mullane, Moe Clark, Anna Scott, Anna Blanco, Jackson Reed, Will Halbert Colorado Sun Gentrification

Marijuana Enterprise Reporting First Place Mike Gallagher Albuquerque Journal Legal pot or not? A New Mexico debate
Marijuana Enterprise Reporting Second Place Ben Winslow KSTU FOX 13 Utah’s state-run medical cannabis system makes government workers drug dealers
Marijuana Enterprise Reporting Third Place Ben Winslow, Mike Reidel, Eric Weseman, Todd Gilbert, Todd Tanner KSTU FOX 13 Utah doctors can recommend medical cannabis, but patients struggle to find those willing to

A&E and Food: Single Story First Place Herb Scribner Deseret News “Joker” coverage
A&E and Food: Single Story Second Place Court Mann Deseret News Utah’s Gateway Mall
A&E and Food: Single Story Third Place Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake Tribune Asian representation in the arts

Feature: Long form First Place Jesse Paul Colorado Sun A slain deputy. A political brawl. A school shooting: How Sheriff Tony Spurlock is handling years of turmoil
Feature: Long form Second Place Gillian Friedman Deseret News What really happened to Lauren McCluskey
Feature: Long form Third Place Courtney Tanner Salt Lake Tribune How a Utah coach responded after two boys on his lacrosse team died by suicide

Feature Videography First Place Rex Warner, Adrienne St. Clair, Court Mann Deseret News How ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ became Hollywood’s template for Middle America

Ag and Environment: General Reporting First Place Nancy Lofholm Colorado Sun In the age of go back where you came from, Palisade carries on tradition of thanking orchard workers before they leave
Ag and Environment: General Reporting Second Place Lois M Collins Deseret News America’s tree crisis

Sports: Columns First Place Gordon Monson Salt Lake Tribune Gordon Monson columns
Sports: Columns Second Place Brad Rock Deseret News Brad Rock columns
Sports: Columns Third Place Amy Donaldson Deseret News Amy Donaldson

News Videography First Place Spenser Heaps, Rex Warner, Adrienne St. Clair, Gillian Friedman Deseret News He was sexually abused as a child. Now this Orthodox rabbi tells his story.
News Videography Second Place Spenser Heaps, Rex Warner, Jesse Hyde, Adrienne St. Clair Deseret News Can the vision of an American nun save the Amazon?
News Videography Third Place Amy Joi O’Donoghue, Rex Warner, Spenser Heaps, Jeffrey Allred Deseret News Americans will soon have a $5 billion wild horse problem

General Podcasting Excellence First Place Xoel Cardenas, Yvette Cruz KSL.com KSL Cafecito
General Podcasting Excellence Second Place Peggy Fletcher Stack, David Noyce, Sara Weber Salt Lake Tribune “Mormon Land”
General Podcasting Excellence Third Place Ben Winslow KSTU Fox 13 Utah Booze News: An Alcohol Policy Podcast

Legal: Enterprise Reporting First Place Erica Evans Deseret News Sexual harassment and Title IX at USU
Legal: Enterprise Reporting Second Place Jessica Miller Salt Lake Tribune Captive customers
Legal: Enterprise Reporting Third Place Jennifer Graham Deseret News Most states protect seniors in debt from losing their possessions

Breaking News Story First Place Peggy Fletcher Stack, Benjamin Wood, Robert Kirby Salt Lake Tribune LDS Church dumps its controversial LGBTQ policy
Breaking News Story Second Place Courtney Tanner , Erin Alberty Salt Lake Tribune Students walk out of West High
Breaking News Story Third Place Jennifer Brown, Jesse Paul Colorado Sun STEM School shooting

Education: General Reporting First Place Courtney Tanner, Jessica Miller , Erin Alberty Salt Lake Tribune New criticisms – and changes – for BYU’s Honor Code
Education: General Reporting Second Place Erin Alberty Salt Lake Tribune Is this school’s mascot racist or does it honor Native Americans?
Education: General Reporting Third Place Gretel Kauffman Deseret News Guns in class

Public Service First Place John Frank, Jesse Paul, Brian Eason, Sandra Fish Colorado Sun Capitol Sunlight Project
Public Service Second Place Erica Meltzer, Melanie Asmar, Yesenia Robles, Ann Schimke , Eric Gorski, Philissa Cramer Chalkbeat Colorado Denver Public Schools Strike Coverage
Public Service Third Place Courtney Tanner Salt Lake Tribune The murder of Lauren McCluskey

Religion General Reporting First Place Colleen Heild Albuquerque Journal Victim hopes child sex abuse conviction of priest leads to healing
Religion General Reporting Second Place Kelsey Dallas Deseret News Can America’s religious freedom ambassador save the world?
Religion General Reporting Third Place Peggy Fletcher Stack Salt Lake Tribune Polygamy lives on in LDS temples

Info Graphic First Place Christopher Cherrington Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake City goes vertical
Info Graphic Second Place Christopher Cherrington Salt Lake Tribune Fatal courthouse shooting
Info Graphic Third Place Mary Archbold Deseret News 175th Anniversary of Martyrdom

Ag and Environment: Enterprise First Place Erica Evans Deseret News Do you know where your paper and plastic go?
Ag and Environment: Enterprise Second Place Erica Evans Deseret News Climate change converts
Ag and Environment: Enterprise Third Place Jason Blevins Colorado Sun This Colorado ranch-made-lab is turning beetle-kill trees into lumber in the name of forest health

Editorials First Place D’Val Westphal Albuquerque Journal Westphal Editorials
Editorials Second Place The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board Salt Lake Tribune The Salt Lake Tribune
Editorials Third Place Christian Sagers Deseret News Christian Sagers’ editorials

General Website Excellence First Place Eric Lubbers, Jesse Paul, Colorado Sun Staff Colorado Sun The Colorado Sun
General Website Excellence Second Place Staff Deseret News Deseret News
General Website Excellence Third Place staff Salt Lake Tribune The Salt Lake Tribune

Headline Writing First Place Matthew Reisen Albuquerque Journal Matthew Reisen
Headline Writing Second Place Greg Peretti Albuquerque Journal Greg Peretti
Headline Writing Third Place Helen Taylor Albuquerque Journal Helen Taylor

Special Section First Place Kelsey Dallas, Erica Evans, Lois M. Collins Deseret News The American Family Survey
Special Section Second Place Carter Williams, Katie Workman, Jacob Klopfenstein, Graham Dudley, Liesl Nielsen, Lauren Bennett KSL.com Into the Voting Booth
Special Section Third Place Lois M. Collins, Kelsey Dallas, Erica Evans, Gillian Friedman, Sofia Jeremias Deseret News 1000 days of President Donald Trump

Marijuana General Reporting First Place Bethany Rodgers Salt Lake Tribune Utah hemp farmers find success and struggles in their first year of growing
Marijuana General Reporting Second Place Ben Winslow KSTU FOX 31 Utah’s state-run medical cannabis system makes government workers drug dealers
Marijuana General Reporting Third Place Dan Boyd Albuquerque Journal Medical users struggle with costs

Politics: Enterprise Reporting First Place John Frank, Jesse Paul, Sandra Fish, John Ingold, Eric Lubbers Colorado Sun Democratic Takeover
Politics: Enterprise Reporting Second Place Sara Israelsen-Hartley Deseret News The power broker
Politics: Enterprise Reporting Third Place Zak Podmore Salt Lake Tribune Heres how San Juan County reached this historic moment and why the tension in southeast Utah wont end anytime soon

Business: General Reporting First Place Tony Semerad Salt Lake Tribune Mayor Biskupskis deal to sell Utah Theater irked those who want to save it. Heres how it got to this point.
Business: General Reporting Second Place Art Raymond Deseret News What is blockchain and can it keep our elections more secure?
Business: General Reporting Third Place Art Raymond Deseret News Why Utah has a “once in a generation” opportunity

Column Personal/Humor First Place Joline Gutierrez Krueger Albuquerque Journal Joline Gutierrez Krueger
Column Personal/Humor Second Place Savannah Hopkinson Deseret News Savannah Hopkinson columns
Column Personal/Humor Third Place Christian Sagers Deseret News Christian Sagers’ personal columns

Best Solutions Journalism First Place Jessica Dyer Albuquerque Journal Sheltering the Homeless
Best Solutions Journalism Second Place Shelby Perea Albuquerque Journal Extended learning time brings hurdles

Science and Technology: General Reporting First Place Tamara Chuang Colorado Sun Understanding AI through Holly, the fast-food bot taking breakfast orders at Good Times
Science and Technology: General Reporting Second Place Wendy Leonard Deseret News Gamma knife
Science and Technology: General Reporting Third Place Michael Booth Colorado Sun Paging Dr. Algorithm: How AI and other new tech are changing care in Colorado hospitals

Science and Technology: Enterprise Reporting First Place Tamara Chuang Colorado Sun Colorado’s Digital Divide
Science and Technology: Enterprise Reporting Second Place Kelsey Dallas Deseret News Does facial recognition software belong at church?
Science and Technology: Enterprise Reporting Third Place Liesl Nielsen KSL.com How a $1.8B acquisition 10 years ago turned the Point of the Mountain into what it is today

Health: General Reporting First Place Jennifer Brown Colorado Sun This miracle drug was designed and manufactured for just one person a 9-year-old Boulder girl
Health: General Reporting Second Place Ashley Imlay Deseret News Insulin gray market
Health: General Reporting Third Place Markian Hawryluk Kaiser Health News Return To Sender: A Single Undeliverable Letter Can Mean Losing Medicaid

Legal: General Reporting First Place Jessica Miller Salt Lake Tribune A day in the life of a Utah public defender a whole bunch of cases and not enough time
Legal: General Reporting Second Place Jesse Paul, John Ingold, Kevin Simpson Colorado Sun Death penalty
Legal: General Reporting Third Place Jessica Miller Salt Lake Tribune How do you get justice? Sex accusations are dropped, but this Utah man remains ostracized in his rural town.

Health: Enterprise Reporting First Place Kevin Simpson Colorado Sun His wife was first to use Colorados aid-in-dying law. His advocacy made him an accidental resource for others.
Health: Enterprise Reporting Second Place Colleen Heild Albuquerque Journal Feeling the Pain
Health: Enterprise Reporting Third Place Jennifer Brown, Sandra Fish Colorado Sun Abortion

A&E and Food: Criticism First Place Scott D. Pierce Salt Lake Tribune Columns by Scott D. Pierce
A&E and Food: Criticism Second Place Lottie Elizabeth Johnson Deseret News Lottie E. Johnson’s A&E columns
A&E and Food: Criticism Third Place Josh Terry Deseret News Josh Terry A&E Columns

Sports: General Reporting First Place Jennifer Graham Deseret News Inside the mind of the man who keeps Tom Brady in the game
Sports: General Reporting Second Place Dale Strode Colorado Sun The fastest kids in America are running hills and chilling in creeks around Crested Butte
Sports: General Reporting Third Place Ethan Bauer Deseret News A resort town, a team and a dream: Park City scripts its own Friday Night Lights

Sports: Enterprise Reporting First Place Amy Donaldson Deseret News In conservative Hildale, Water Canyon wrestlers are challenging traditional roles
Sports: Enterprise Reporting Second Place Jeff Call Deseret News A different path
Sports: Enterprise Reporting Third Place Andy Larsen, Christopher Kamrani Salt Lake Tribune Utah Jazz fans have a reputation for crossing the line, including into racist taunts. Heres what the team is trying to do about it.

Politics: General Reporting First Place John Frank, Brian Eason, Sandra Fish Colorado Sun The 2019 Election
Politics: General Reporting Second Place Ben Winslow KTSU FOX 13 Utah’s governor proposes revised rule to ban conversion therapy on LGBTQ children
Politics: General Reporting Third Place Katie McKellar Deseret News Salt Lake Chamber scraps plans

News Reporting- Single Story First Place John Ingold Colorado Sun He survived the Aurora Chuck E. Cheese shooting 25 years ago. A possible death penalty repeal is bringing it all back up.
News Reporting- Single Story Second Place Nate Carlisle Salt Lake Tribune Suicides are taking a toll in and out of a Utah polygamous sect
News Reporting- Single Story Third Place Elise Kaplan Albuquerque Journal Teen Dies in Santa Fe juvenile lockup; DA: Referring cases to federal court a crime-fighting strategy

Features: Short form First Place Joe Purtell Colorado Sun Acres of destruction left by Colorados historic avalanche season are also delivering climate change evidence
Features: Short form Second Place Jesse Paul Colorado Sun Colorados recall fever arrives in Idaho Springs, where leaders fear damage to their towns renaissance
Features: Short form Third Place Erin Alberty Salt Lake Tribune A Utah family tries to heal after a murder-suicide

A&E and Food: Enterprise Reporting First Place Kathy Stephenson Salt Lake Tribune Why restaurants close from food to finances to family
A&E and Food: Enterprise Reporting Second Place Herb Scribner Deseret News Movie trailers
A&E and Food: Enterprise Reporting Third Place John Frank Colorado Sun Colorado craft beer scene

Education: Enterprise Reporting First Place Shelby Perea Albuquerque Journal Elevated lead levels found at some APS schools
Education: Enterprise Reporting Second Place Jennifer Brown, Kevin Simpson, Tamara Chuang, Brian Eason Colorado Sun Four-day School Week
Education: Enterprise Reporting Third Place Christopher Osher, Jennifer Brown Colorado Sun No Colorado school districts meet federal safety standards for behavioral health staffing, investigation shows

News Column First Place Joline Gutierrez Krueger Albuquerque Journal Joline News Columns
News Column Second Place Lee Benson Deseret News Lee Benson columns
News Column Third Place Mario Nicolais Colorado Sun Mario Nicolais