Four members of The Flor-Ala staff were honored at the Southeast Journalism Conference in Clarksville, Tennessee, Feb. 18-20.

Judges considered 441 qualified entries from 35 universities across the Southeastern U.S. to select for honors.

Editor-in-Chief Kali Daniel, Managing Editor Jasmine Fleming, former Graphic Designer Shilo Cupples and former Associate Sports Editor Kadin Pounders won awards for their contributions to journalism during the Best of the South awards banquet Feb. 19.

Cupples won first place in the Best Newspaper Page Layout Designer category. Cupples, who designed the Life and Sports sections, created “clean” designs for a New Year’s Resolutions page, a story about divorce and a page about bullying.

Daniel ranked second in the Best News Graphic Designer category. Her infographic about increasing minimum wage gained this award.

Fleming placed eighth in the Best Opinion/Editorial Writer section. Her editorials about the importance of millennial voting, supporting assault victims and the importance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day earned this award.

Pounders ranked third in the Best Sports Writer section. His coverage of UNA women’s soccer’s historic season this year won the award.

The Flor-Ala tied with Georgia State University and Samford University for fourth place in Best College Magazine section for its’ work on The Roar-Ala, the SOAR Magazine. The Flor-Ala also tied fifth with University of Southern Mississippi and Mississippi State University for Best College Newspaper.

“The UNA community can be proud of these talented students as they work hard throughout the year to produce 30 newspaper editions and a magazine while maintaining the florala.net news website and several social media channels,” said Student Media Adviser Scott Morris.

“Rather than taking time to celebrate after Friday night’s awards, our students said they needed to finish writing stories for the next edition of The Flor-Ala. This is typical of their dedication.”

Fleming, Associate News Editor Kaitlyn Davis, Associate Life Editor Monday Sanderson and Graphic Designer Michael Meigs represented UNA and The Flor-Ala at the conference.