2026 FMD Contest Winners

Of the 1214 student journalists from registered to attend Fall Media Day from 46 schools, the Best of the West Contest recognized 125 outstanding individual entries and 14 publications from around the Pacific Northwest.

Individual students competed in seven on-site on-demand contests: three writing contests, two photography contests, one video contest and one social media coverage 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 November 4, 2026.

ON-SITE CONTEST WINNERS

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

NEWS WRITING

HONORABLE MENTION

Noah Johnson-Green - Benson High School
Sammy Vorhees - Cleveland High School
Jura Hedley - West Linn High School
Ian Asay - Oregon City High School

EXCELLENT

Madeline Crandall - Lakeridge High School
Caroline Olsen - Lakeridge High School
Suri Reynoso - Lincoln High School

SUPERIOR

Sophia Kunjummen - Lakeridge High School
Elliot Funk - Cleveland High School
Jadyn Ferguson - Lakeridge High School
Grady Wilkinson - La Salle High School

2nd RUNNER UP

- Nika Johnson - West Linn High School

1ST RUNNER UP

- Lillian Vosburg - Lakeridge High School

BEST IN SHOW

- Jasper Trehearne - La Salle High School

OPINION WRITING

HONORABLE MENTION

Chiamaka Udeagwu - South Salem High School
Sara Vander Ploeg - Tualatin High School
Wesley Gilbert - West Linn High School
Wilbur Luckman - West Albany High School
Greydis Rojas-Huerta - Tualatin High School
Leanor Geddes - Summit High School
Elena Mason - Summit High School
Kennedy Doering - Summit High School
Sam Kilburn - McDaniel High School
Sasha Williams - South Salem High School
Brennea Atchley - South Salem High School

Emerson Cienfuegos - Cleveland High School
Hailoh Smith - West Albany High School
Savvy Veenker - South Salem High School
Sameera Maskey - La Salle High School
Luna Stromire - Tualatin High School
Luis Perez - South Salem High School
Lenka Rusnak - Lakeridge High School
Lake Stromire - Tualatin High School

EXCELLENT

Reece Goodin - Mountain View High School
Sloane Smith - Mountain View High School
Alexis Lowe - Summit High School
Gabe Gallares - La Salle High School
Zack Wells - Gervais High School
Layla Madrid - Tualatin High School
Lucine Papakhian - Lakeridge High School
Brooke Sanborn - West Linn High School

SUPERIOR

Naida Navarro - Summit High School
Lilian Nishan - West Linn High School

2nd RUNNER UP

- Ceriya Stewert - Lincoln High School

1ST RUNNER UP

- Zayli Hitchcock - Summit High School

BEST IN SHOW

- Blake Arnold - Summit High School

FEATURE WRITING

HONORABLE MENTION

Amelia Oreshovich - Oregon City High School
Brynn Moorhead - Summit High School
Emmett Strackany - La Salle High School
Isla Lute - South Salem High School
Drew Stanley - Lakeridge High School
Cam Gola - Sabin-Schellenberg High School
Sonia Parikh - Lincoln High School
Matilda Anzur - South Salem High School
Charlotte Lennon - Oregon City High School
Olivia Flowers - Grant High School
Alessia Posko - Cleveland High School

EXCELLENT

Emmie Liu - McDaniel High School
Kaya Barram - South Salem High School
Olive Keeley - Cleveland High School
Zeke Hernandez - South Salem High School

SUPERIOR

Nora Helm - Cleveland High School
Sage Dalke - Grant High School
Dinah Watkins - Sweet Home High School

2nd RUNNER UP

- Frances Binford-Ross - South Salem High School

1ST RUNNER UP

- Della Annen - Grant High School

BEST IN SHOW

- Cece Lipman - South Salem High School

EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY

HONORABLE MENTION

Luxe Aasen - Roosevelt
Ash Biesty & Hattie Hinman - High Desert
Topher Gabel - Sandy High School
Rylan G. - Tualatin High School
Shaun Hendryx - West Linn High School
Nova Shah - Cleveland High School
Defne Numanoglu - Cleveland High School
Ian Asay - Oregon City High School
Yazmin Lopez-Estevez - La Salle
Kaiden Edwards - Tualatin High School
Leah Kennedy - West Albany
Milo Lee - Roosevelt High School
Andy Acevedo - La Salle College Prep
Claire Satran - West Linn High School
Zack Wells - Gervais High School

EXCELLENT

Alexis Nguyen - Mcdaniel High School
Blake Gober - Roseburg
Em Moselle - West Linn High School
Haley Streitberger - West Albany High School
Aidan Young - Sandy High School

SUPERIOR

Noelle Miller - South Salem High School

2nd RUNNER UP

- Ricardo Tuz Aviles - McDaniel High School

1ST RUNNER UP

- Allegra Wehner - Lincoln High School
  
  BEST IN SHOW
- Judah Dukhovny - Lakeridge High School

In this photo, the keynote speaker, Julia Boboc answers a question from the kid in the white hood. The kid asked about the impact of AI in journalism, to which Boboc responded “you should ethically learn how to implement it into your work, like using Otter ai for interviews.” photo by Judah Dukhovny - Lakeridge HS

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY

HONORABLE MENTION

Berlin Martinez - McDaniel HighSchool
Brennea Atchley -South Salem
Peyton Mack - South Salem High School
Nova Shah - Cleveland High School
Chloe Meacham - West Linn High School
Hinata Horiguchi - St.Mary
Defne Numanoglu - Cleveland High School
Ash Geerhart - West Linn High School

EXCELLENT

Luxe Aasen - Roosevelt High School
Rylan G. - Tualatin High School

SUPERIOR

Tilda Jordan - McDaniel High School

2nd RUNNER UP

- Abbey Hoffman - Oregon City High School

1ST RUNNER UP

- Indira Cook - South Salem High School

BEST IN SHOW

- Noelle Miller - South Salem High School

“Fall Media Day is exciting because it gives me the opportunity to meet other students who share similar interests and experience what it’s like to be part of the journalism industry in a more professional setting.” -Julia. Photo by Noelle Miller - South Salem HS

VIDEO SEGMENT

“Create a >60-second video segment promoting ‘Fall Media Day’”

HONORABLE MENTION

Finley Springer - West Linn High School
Indira Cook - South Salem High School
Thurston Miner - Leodis V McDaniel High School

EXCELLENT

Mason Arnold and Sydney Tufteskog - South Salem High School

2nd RUNNER UP

- Allegra Wehner, Annie Hughes, Eva Schubert - Lincoln High School
  
  1ST RUNNER UP
- Hannah Lusk - St. Mary’s
  
  BEST IN SHOW
- Quinn Johnson - West Linn High School

SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE

(Create up to five social posts/reels/TikToks covering #FMD2025)

HONORABLE MENTION

Eva Schubert, Annie Hughes, Allegra Wehner - Lincoln High School
Nia Langford, Noelle H. Verdeflor, Eli Frost - Lincoln High School
Eva Schubert and Annie Hughes - Lincoln High School

EXCELLENT

Natalya Lampman - North Douglas high School
Defne Numanoglu, Nova Shah - Cleveland High School
Amelia Oreskovich - Oregon City High School

SUPERIOR

Carson Cleave Clarisol Ortiz Polanco - South Salem High School
Lelia Clayton, Aaniya Edwards- Ramirez - Roosevelt High School

2nd RUNNER UP

- Zoe Stone - Lakeridge High School

1ST RUNNER UP

- Meghan Lemay, Em Moselle, Tyrah Workman, Destiny Medina Mosby - West Linn High school

BEST IN SHOW

- Peyton Allen - Lakeridge High School - Lakeridge Instagram #FMD2026

BEST OF THE WEST WINNERS

STAFF PUBLICATION AWARDS

BROADCAST BEST OF THE WEST

1ST RUNNER UP
- South Salem High School
BEST IN SHOW
- Lincoln High School

NEWSPAPER BEST OF THE WEST – SMALL SCHOOL

BEST IN SHOW
- Gervais High School

NEWSPAPER BEST OF THE WEST – LARGE SCHOOL

2nd RUNNER UP
- West Albany High School
1ST RUNNER UP
- Grant Magazine - Grant High School
BEST IN SHOW
- The Oracle - McDaniel High School

YEARBOOK – SMALL SCHOOL

1ST RUNNER UP
- St. Mary’s High School
BEST IN SHOW
- Junction City High School

YEARBOOK – LARGE SCHOOL

2nd RUNNER UP
- Summit High School
1ST RUNNER UP
- West Albany High School
BEST IN SHOW
- Redmond High School

ONLINE BEST OF THE WEST

2nd RUNNER UP
- Summit High School - thesummitpinnacle.com
1ST RUNNER UP
- LaSalle High School - lasallefalconer.com/
BEST IN SHOW
- West Linn High School - wlhsNOW.com

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