The Western Wheel newspaper picked up a number of accolades in its best in-class competition.
At the Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association awards ceremony, the Western Wheel earned three awards in the Better Newspaper Competition General Excellence, picked up two nods in the Photographic Awards and took home an honourable mention in the Awards of Excellence.
“We work really hard in the editorial department to showcase the wide array of news, arts, sports and culture in the community,” said assistant editor Remy Greer. “I think these awards, and the national ones we picked up earlier in the month, are a reflection of that.”
The awards recognize entries from 2022 and were revealed on Sept. 22.
For General Excellence, the Wheel submitted its March 23, 2022 and Sept. 28, 2022 editions of the paper for nomination.
The Western Wheel won first place for Best Sports Page/Section, second place for Best Editorial Page and third place in Best Overall.
Photojournalist Brent Calver won a pair of Photographic Awards, taking first place in Human Interest Photo ‘Crossing the Stage’, showcasing Foothills Composite High School grad Hannah Ellefson walking the stage with support dog Fozzy.
Calver also took third in the Sports Action Photo category for ‘Down to the Wire’ which captured the unique side-saddle races at the Millarville Racetrack at the annual Canada Day races.
In the Awards of Excellence, Greer earned an honourable mention in the Sports Writing Award category for his coverage of the Okotoks Dawgs’ historic 2022 season in the Western Canadian Baseball League.
“A lot of sports journalism is simply being there to capture big moments and thankfully the Dawgs gave us plenty of those last summer,” Greer added. “From Ricky Sanchez’s cycle to the first WCBL All-Star Game in Okotoks, it was almost like every time you showed up to the ballpark something wild and unforgettable was going to happen.”
The provincial awards come on the heels of the Wheel earning recognition in the Best All-Round Newspaper, Best Editorial Page, Best Front Page and Best Photo Essay categories in the 2023 Canadian Community Newspaper Awards earlier in the mont
