The Platteville Journal received five Wisconsin Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest awards at the annual WNA convention in Middleton Feb. 26.

The Journal was awarded second place in its circulation category for feature page design. Judges noted the “excellent look to your pages and wonderful use of the photos with cutlines.”

Sports editor Jason Nihles was awarded third place in sports page design, and third page in sports feature for “Mind over matter,” about Mark Gehringer, who runs 100-mile races.

The Journal was given an honorable mention award in the Best Advertising Special Section for its Belmont School & Community Fair 100th anniversary section. The section was created by sales manager Ann Rupp and ad designer Carol Tyson.

Judges called it “a fun read, with many old photos and stories interspersed with the current copy.”

Editor Steve Prestegard also received an honorable-mention award for two sports columns about high school sports postseasons.

The Journal has won 50 WNA awards, including 12 first-place awards, since Morris Newspapers Corporation of Wisconsin purchased The Journal in 2003.

Prestegard was also part of a first-place award earned by the Fennimore Times in breaking news coverage, for the murder–suicide in Montfort in January 2015. The Journal also contributed to a special section, She, that earned an honorable mention award for the Grant County Herald Independent in Lancaster for editorial special sections.