The Pony Express is now ranked among the top five high school newspapers in the state. In all, the Center Hill High School student newspaper and its staff were recognized in 18 categories during a virtual awards ceremony presented April 9 by the Mississippi Scholastic Press Association.

In the Best of Show awards, three finalists and one winner are named in each category. Lacey Buckley won Best Graphic Illustration and Lily Dawson won Best Covid-19 Writing. Dawson was also a finalist for Best Sports Photo and Ella McAlister was a finalist for Best Headline.

In the Best of Mississippi competition, five finalists and one winner are named in each category. Dawson won Best Opinion Piece.

Finalists include:

Tony Macklin, News Story

Shelby Parsons, News Story

Jose Esquivel, Feature Story

Zackery Blaisdell, Opinion Story

Lacey Buckley, Editorial Cartoon

Morgan Ewing, News Photo

Brandon Mayse, Page Design (twice) and Infographic

Co-adviser Ginny Shikle was also named a finalist for Newspaper Adviser of the Year. In addition to the Top 5 placement for News Publication of the Year, The Pony Express was recognized as a finalist in News and Feature Writing, Opinion Writing, Print Layout and Design, Online Presence, and Social Media Presence.

A complete list of winners is available at mississippischolasticpress.com.