Of the 880 student journalists registered to attend Fall Media Day, the Best of the West Contest recognized 64 outstanding individual entries and 17 publications. 

Individual students competed in three on-demand writing contests, two photography contests, and one video contest. 

Industry professionals from local publications and journalism educators from around the state served as judges, awarding top entries with Honorable Mention, Excellent, or Superior. In each category the top three entries were recognized with one standout entry named “Best in Show.” 

Judges then reviewed all publication entries to the “Best of the West” competition and awarded 2nd Runner Up, 1st Runner Up and “Best of the West” for each publication category. 

Writing contests and best of the west publication awards were recognized in person at the Fall Media Day Awards Ceremony on December 5. The Event Photography, Portrait Photography and Video Segment awards were announced December 7 in the following video announcement: 

Fall Media Day 2023

ON-SITE CONTEST WINNERS

OPINION WRITING

HONORABLE MENTION

Sydney Hanson, Wilsonville
M Davis, West Linn
Eleyna Jansen, Lakeridge
Spencer Pederson, Marshfield
Lucas Hellberg, Lakeridge
Diane Jones, Mountainside
Kenny Geidl, West Linn
Carlito Bryant, Lakeridge

EXCELLENT

Nidha Eakambaran, Lincoln

Alec Conley, Mountainside

2nd RUNNER UP

Emma Little, West Linn

1st RUNNER UP

Anfury Yadessa, West Linn

BEST IN SHOW

Laura Taylor, Tigard HS

NEWS WRITING

HONORABLE MENTION

Valeria Ruiz, South Salem

Mollie Brown, West Albany

EXCELLENT

Mailley Pierson, South Salem

Garrett Arendt, West Linn

SUPERIOR

Kayla Stefan, West Albany

Angelina Handris, West Linn

2nd RUNNER UP

Edie Himmer, West Linn

1st RUNNER UP

Nicholas Hull, West Linn

BEST IN SHOW

Avneet Dhaliwal, West Albany

FEATURE WRITING

HONORABLE MENTION

Connor Stewart, South Salem

Gretchen Morgenstern, West Albany

Brenna Steple, Lakeridge

Sophie Eaton, Sandy

Sophia Pattalochi, Wilsonville

Georgia Rozes, West Linn

Claire Lenarduzzi, West Linn

Trevor Alligood, West Linn

EXCELLENT

Lauren Shein, Summit

Liam Givens, Sandy

Lucy Rouse, West Albany

Opal Green, McDaniel

SUPERIOR

Neona Prado, West Albany

Olivia Wang, West Linn

Chiara Arendt, West Linn

2nd RUNNER UP

Chloe Battin, Sheldon

1st RUNNER UP

Coral Platt, Lincoln

BEST IN SHOW

Joseph Murphy, West Linn

EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY

HONORABLE MENTION

Lea Olivares Raudes, Tualatin

Clara Wood, West Linn

Amanda Schubert, Lincoln

EXCELLENT

Meghan Whitten, Lincoln

Lizi Kutchukhidze, West Albany

Ahmed Altuhafi, Tualatin

2nd RUNNER UP

Olivia Beauchemin, Tualatin

1st RUNNER UP

Scarlett Dempsey, Lincoln

BEST IN SHOW

Christian Beck, Canby

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

HONORABLE MENTION

Zion Merida, Roosevelt HS

EXCELLENT

Christian Beck, Canby HS

Lizi Kutchukhidze, West Albany HS

SUPERIOR

Autumn Schmidlin, West Linn HS

2nd RUNNER UP

Lea Olivares Raudes, Tualatin

1st RUNNER UP

Abbie Jalili, West Linn

BEST IN SHOW

Anfury Yadessa, West Linn

VIDEO SEGMENT

HONORABLE MENTION

Preston Weller, West Linn HS

Bethany Sanderlin and Johnny Chen, Roseburg HS

EXCELLENT

Henry Tabor, Vincent King, Jayden Carey, Seth Migliaccio - West Linn HS

Fiona Holton and Ava Branch - Lakeridge HS

Luca Pineda - Lincoln HS

2nd RUNNER UP

Audrey Krake & Nora Bevilacqua, West Linn

1stRUNNER UP

Brielle Brown and Emily Aguilar, Sheldon

BEST IN SHOW

Finn Howell and Kaelyn Jones, West Linn

BEST OF THE WEST WINNERS

BROADCAST BEST OF THE WEST

2nd RUNNER UP

Roseburg HS - Thanksgiving Edition

1st RUNNER UP

South Salem - Clypian

BEST OF THE WEST

Wilsonville Broadcast Network - Thanksgiving Edition - Wilsonville HS

NEWSPAPER BEST OF THE WEST

2nd RUNNER UP

Cardinal Times – Lincoln HS

1st RUNNER UP

Tualatin

BEST OF THE WEST

Lakeridge

NEWSMAGAZINE BEST OF THE WEST

2nd RUNNER UP

The Whirlwind - West Albany HS

1st RUNNER UP

Amplifier – West Linn HS

BEST OF THE WEST

Backcountry Review – Springfield High School

YEARBOOK - SMALL SCHOOL - BEST OF THE WEST

1st RUNNER UP

Days Creek Charter School

BEST OF THE WEST

Salem Academy

YEARBOOK - LARGE SCHOOL - BEST OF THE WEST

2nd RUNNER UP

The Quiver - Sherwood HS

1st RUNNER UP

Green & Gold - West Linn HS

BEST OF THE WEST

The Peak - Summit HS

ONLINE BEST OF THE WEST

2nd RUNNER UP

LaSalleFalconer.com - LaSalle Catholic College Prep

1st RUNNER UP

CardinalTimes.org - Lincoln HS

BEST OF THE WEST

wlhsNOW.com - West Linn HS