Patch Claims 18 Prizes at 38th Annual San Diego Press Club Awards

Patch sites in San Diego County collected 18 prizes Tuesday night in the San Diego Press Club’s 38th annual Excellence in Journalism Awards, led by La Mesa Patch with a dozen.

Only the The San Diego Union-Tribune won more honors—24—as a single organization than the five Patch sites recognized at the San Diego Hall of Champions in Balboa Park. Poway Patch added three awards. Carlsbad Patch, La Jolla Patch and Encinitas Patch received one each.

La Mesa Patch took third place for Overall News Site—after the San Diego Daily Transcript site San Diego Source and SignOnSanDiego.com, website of the Union-Tribune.

Three first-place plaques went to Chris Stone of La Mesa for photography in the Daily Newspapers and Websites category. She won for sports (a swimming shot), portrait (T-ball player) and photo essay (memorial for a fallen soldier).  She also won a third-place award for photos of a Poway jousting tournament.

San Diego County has 13 Patch sites, including Camp Pendleton Patch.  Other sites are in Coronado, Imperial Beach, Lemon Grove, Mount Helix, Ramona, Rancho Bernardo and Santee. Poway Patch and La Mesa Patch were the first sites launched locally—in late September 2010. Patch has more than 860 sites nationwide.

Judging was done by journalists in New Orleans, San Francisco, Syracuse, Tulsa, Milwaukee, Houston, Los Angeles, Cleveland and St. Louis.

Here are the Patch honorees at Tuesday night’s awards:

First-place awards

• Chris Stone, Photography: Photo Essay, Kenny Necochea Jr., Poway Patch
• Chris Stone, Photography: Portrait, (of the Future) as T-Ball Players Delight Parents, La Mesa Patch
• Chris Stone, Photography: Sports, Grossmont/West Hills Pool Their Resources in Final Meet Before League Championships, La Mesa Patch

Second-place awards

• Ken Stone, Breaking News, by 2-Alarm Blaze; Veteran Firefighter Saves Rookie, La Mesa Patch
• Ken Stone, General News, : Court Fight Over Family Trust Ends in Settlement, La Mesa Patch
• Ken Stone, Photography: Feature, at Your Public Service, La Mesa Patch
• Ken Stone, Photography: Photo Essay, The Class of 2011 Saluted in a Sea of Green, La Mesa
• Ken Stone, Public Service/Consumer Advocacy, Police Officers Association Charity Efforts, La Mesa Patch
• Ken Stone, Series, at City Hall: Local Office Lacks Business License, La Mesa Patch
• Michael Grant, Column, Back to the Future—and La Mesa’s Own Mile of Classic Cars, La Mesa Patch
• Nicole Sours Larson, Health and Medicine, : Henry the Three-Legged Cat, La Jolla Patch
• James Newland, History, on Army Troops at Grossmont Camp, La Mesa Patch
• Deanne Goodman and Ann Zevely, Reviews: Restaurants, Revealed, Tasted and Reviewed, Carlsbad Patch
• Tom York, Science/Technology, Rave Reviews for Vet-Stem’s Therapies for Dogs and Horses, Poway Patch

Third-place awards

• Pat Launer, Arts & Entertainment Reporting, Richard II: Not the Guy with the Hump, Encinitas Patch
• Annie Lane and Ken Stone, Political/Government, Mission Impossible: La Mesa Agency Will Never Repay $63 Million Debt
• Chris Stone, Photography: Photo Essay, Rules Poway in 2010, Poway Patch
• La Mesa Patch, Overall News Site