Five Louisiana Tech journalism students have won awards in a competition sponsored by the National Federation of Press Women, including a first place for feature writing and second for sports and news writing.

The awards were announced at the organization’s national convention this past weekend, Sept. 11-13, in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Justin Phillips, a junior journalism major from Alexandria, claimed first place in the collegiate portion of the contest for a feature story titled ‘Finals week: Finding ways to handle stress.’ The article ran in the campus newspaper, The Tech Talk, in November 2007. Phillips currently holds the title of both sports and managing editor for The Tech Talk.

Justin Phillips

To be eligible for the national competition, students must win first place in their state contests. Ten Tech journalism students earned awards this year from the Louisiana Press Women, which includes both male and female members.

Mary Nash

Another current Tech Talk editor, Mary Nash, of El Dorado, Ark., won second place for her story on the deaths of former Tech baseball coach Pat Patterson and his wife in October 2007. Nash, a graduating senior, serves as the paper’s associate editor this quarter.

Other national winners for 2008, all of whom graduated in 2007-2008, are: