ATHENS, Ohio (Nov. 25, 2008)—Ohio University students won 6 of 16 individual first place awards at the University of Missouri’s College Photographer of the Year (CPOY) awards. No other school took home more than two individual awards, making Ohio University the top 1st place award winner.

Students also won a 2nd place award, four 3rd place awards and 10 awards of excellence.

“This is the fourth time in the last four competitions where we can measure our students’ success against peer institutions,” said Terry Eiler, the school’s director. “It’s exciting to see that our students are continuing to lead the universities in quality photojournalism.”

Jenn Ackerman won three awards for her project “Trapped.”

“This is a project I really poured a lot of energy and heart into, and it’s nice to receive recognition from your peers,” said Ackerman.

The CPOY awards program is the oldest and only open competition for college photographers in the world. Sponsored by Nikon, the event is held each year at the University of Missouri. This year there were more than 121 colleges participating with a total of 13,313 still images and 169 multimedia projects from 586 students.

To see all of the winners and their entries visit www.cpoy.org. A list of Ohio University winners follows:

1st place awards:
General news- Noah Rabinowitz
Feature- Jenn Ackerman
Illustration- Andrew Burkle
Documentary- Jenn Ackerman
Individual Mixed Media Essay- Maisie Crow
Multimedia Project- Jenn Ackerman

2nd place award:
Portrait- Tim Gruber

3rd place awards:
Spot News- Xiaomei Chen
Pictorial- Marcus Yam
Pictorial- Sophie Borazanian
Documentary- Josh Birnbaum

Awards of Excellence:
Sports Action- Drew Angerer
Sports Action- Josh Bunbaum
Portrait- Maisie Crow
Pictorial- Marcus Yam
Domestic Picture Story- Dan Krauss
Illustration- Andrew Burkle
Documentary- Matt Eich
Multimedia Project- Tim Gruber
Multimedia Project- Kainaz Amaria
Still Image/Audio Story or Essay- Marcus Yam