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First place, Sports Photo category: A rider is thrown from a bull during a rodeo at the Worth County Fair in June 2019. - Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

First place, Self-Promotion or House Ad category: Former Tribune graphic designer Kim Ehrich won first place for a Halloween house advertisement she created for Albert Lea Magazine. - Kim Ehrich/Albert Lea Tribune

Second place, Best Magazine category: The Tribune won second place among all daily newspapers in Minnesota for its May/June 2019 issue of Albert Lea Magazine, which featured Kara, Brien and Breckyn Heinemann on the cover. - Tribune file

First place, Best Advertisement category: Ehrich won for a Papa Murphy’s ad she created for a promotion the pizza restaurant had for Super Bowl weekend in 2019. She also won third place in the Advertising Campaign category for an ad she made for the same company. - Kim Ehrich/Albert Lea Tribune

Third place, Press Photographer’s Portfolio category: Harrison submitted 10 examples of work to the category. This portrait of Reuben Schaus, who lives with autism, holding his toy porg was called “something special” by one of the judges. - Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

Third place, Press Photographer’s Portfolio category: A corn pit was available for children to play in during downtown Albert Lea's 2018 Halloween Spooktacular. - Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

Third place, Press Photographer’s Portfolio category: Albert Lea High School hosted a powder puff football game during Homecoming Week 2018. - Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

Third place, Press Photographer’s Portfolio category: Jaiden Venem of the Freeborn Eagles rugby club tackles a member of the Osseo Orioles during a game in April at Southwest Middle School. - Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

Third place, Press Photographer’s Portfolio category: Members of Albert Lea Police Department, Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office and Albert Lea Fire Department convened last February for active killer response training at Hawthorne Elementary School. - Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

Third place, Press Photographer’s Portfolio category: One of Hairball's three different lead singers shoots off a confetti gun while performing as Ozzy Osbourne during the Freeborn County Fair. - Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

Third place, Press Photographer’s Portfolio category: A boy plays with one of the children's games set up by Hope Church after having his face painted during a 2019 Wind Down Wednesday in downtown Albert Lea. - Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

Third place, Press Photographer’s Portfolio category: People gathered in July in front of the Freeborn County Courthouse as a part of the nationwide movement Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Concentration Camps. - Colleen Harrison/Albert Lea Tribune

The Albert Lea Tribune took home nine awards Thursday night at the Minnesota Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest banquet in Brooklyn Park.

The newspaper won second place in the Best Magazine category among all daily newspapers in Minnesota for its May/June 2019 issue, which featured Kara, Brien and Breckyn Heinemann on the cover.

“Great use of local content, and graphics always draw the readers in,” the judge wrote of the magazine.

The newspaper won four advertising-related awards, including third place in the Advertising Excellence category among daily newspapers under 10,000 circulation.

“Lots of great colorful ads that really jump off the paper to you,” the judge wrote.

Former Tribune graphic designer Kim Ehrich won first place for a Halloween house advertisement she created for Albert Lea Magazine, encouraging people who made costumes for their children to reach out to the staff for a feature.

“Loved the pop of the colors and how the designer fit the costumes into the design,” the judge wrote.

Ehrich also won first place among all dailies in the Best Advertisement category for a Papa Murphy’s ad she created for a promotion the pizza restaurant had for Super Bowl weekend in 2019 and third place in the Advertising Campaign category for an ad she made for the same company.

Photo editor Colleen Harrison won two awards, one of which was first place among all daily newspapers for a sports photo she took at a rodeo in Northwood.

“Couldn’t resist this first-place winner,” the judge wrote of the sports photo. “Great composition and skill to capture this moment of the falling rider in perfect juxtaposition to the bull, who is winning this competition.”

Harrison was awarded third place in the Press Photographer’s Portfolio category among all daily newspapers.

“The portrait personality of the child with autism is something special. Lovely body of work,” judges said in describing Harrison’s portfolio.

“This was really tough to judge. There were a lot of solid portfolios,” judges said about the pool of applicants for the category overall, in which photographers from the Brainerd Dispatch and Rochester Post-Bulletin took first and second place, respectively. “… All three photographers selected are exceptionally talented in a pool of very talented photographers.”

The newspaper also won third place in the Typography and Design category among dailies under 10,000 and second place in the Editorial Page as a Whole category among the same newspaper class.

“Excellent page designs,” the judge wrote of the submitted Tribune opinion pages. “The slice-of-life columns are well-paired with opinion pieces by contributors. Editorial cartoons add edge.”

The newspaper contest is held annually for both college and professional newspapers.

The awards handed out Thursday night were for work performed between September 2018 and August 2019.

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