Ben Davis Journalism departments combine to win 35 state awards in two separate competitions announced this week.

Spotlight and Keyhole combine to win 16 awards during Friday’s J-Day competition at Ball State University. Superior awards (superior considered first place in Ball State studies) went to junior Nicole Thomas in feature page design, sophomore Sarah Blair in feature photography, sophomore Jamilah Evans in news writing and 2015 graduate Madison Woodward in personality profile writing.

On Tuesday, the Women’s Press Club of Indiana announced its annual winners. Ben Davis captured 19 over all awards and four state champions. Those state champions were senior Melissa Tratensek in environmental writing, senior Jaylin Finch in sports photography, junior Ryan Eggars in column writing and senior Ellie Johnson in video feature story. Those four state winners will represent Indiana in the national competition.

In addition, Student Publications advisor Tom Hayes was inducted into the Ball State Journalism Hall of Fame during J-Day. Hayes, a 1981 Ball State graduate, had a 22-year career covering central Indiana sports before becoming a teacher. He is in his 10th year teaching journalism at Ben Davis.

The complete list of winners follows:

Women’s Press Club of Indiana

Breanna Cooper — honorable mention in editorial writing

Jamilah Evans — second place in opinion writing

Ryan Eggers — first place in column writing

Sarah Blair — third place in feature photo

Jamilah Evans — honorable mention in news writing

Kellie Leeper — second place in yearbook layout

Herson Madrid — third place in yearbook layout

Emily Rasmussen — third place in single page layout

Emily Rasmussen — honorable mention in single page layout

Paige Drane — honorable mention in graphic illustration

Ryan Eggers — third place in double-truck layout

Emily Rasmussen — honorable mention in double-truck layout

Jaylin Finch — first place in sports photography

Alauren Harris — second place in cartooning

Melissa Tratensek — first place in environmental writing

Makayla Melton — second place in video news story

Ellie Johnson — first place in video feature story

Torryell Gildon — second place in video feature story

Imani Keith — second place in video sports story

Ball State J-Day

Jaylin Finch — Honorable mention sports photo

Shelby Jenson — Excellent feature photo

Sarah Blair — Superior feature photo

Madison Woodward — Superior personality profile

Staff — Honorable mention overall yearbook

Ryan Eggers — Honorable mention sports story

Alauren Harris — Honorable mention comic

Emily Rasmussen and Shelby Jenson — Honorable mention cover design

Emily Rasmussen and Shelby Jenson — Honorable mention cover design

Nicole Thomas — Superior feature page design

Ryan Eggers — Excellent sports page design

Emily Rasmussen — Excellent multi-page design

Brendyn Waites — Excellent news story

Jamilah Evans — Superior news story

Nicole Thomas — Honorable mention feature story

Spotlight staff — Honorable mention newspaper overall

Congratulations to everyone. Keep up the good work.