The Southeast Missourian was one of the top winners in the 2008 Missouri Associated Press Managing Editors writing and photo competition, taking home 12 awards for writing and six awards for photos in Division II of the contest.

The awards will be presented at the annual convention of the Missouri Press Association in October.

In the community affairs category, reporter Bridget DiCosmo took second place for her feature on the questions surrounding the murder conviction of Joshua Kezer, which was later overturned on a ruling of actual innocence.

Lindy Bavolek also took second place in the feature writing category for her story about a Southeast Missouri girl forced to avoid sunlight due to an incurable genetic disorder.

Reporters Peg McNichol and Rudi Keller took top honors in the spot news category for their coverage of severe flooding in March 2008, while third place in the category went to a number of reporters on the newspaper's staff for coverage surrounding vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's visit to the Show Me Center in October.

Also taking awards were two headlines, with "Checks and negative balances" taking first place and "Outskirts of fashion" taking second place.

The Southeast Missourian swept both the spot sports and sports features categories, taking all three awards in each. Toby Carrig's story on the NCAA Committee on Infractions' decision to vacate two years of records for the Southeast Missouri State University women's basketball program took first place in the spot sports category.

Carrig and Marty Mishow also won second place for coverage when athletic director Don Kaverman was fired and men's basketball coach Scott Edgar was placed on administrative leave, while sports editor Kevin Winters Morriss won third place for a story on the selection of Rich Payne as the Cape Girardeau Central High School football coach.

In the sports features category, Christopher Smith took first place for a story about Katee Moore, a Kelly High School softball player who overcame a torn rotator cuff with the help of her grandmother.

Second place was awarded to Winters Morriss and his story on the Notre Dame Regional High School boys soccer team's dedication of its season to the father of the team's goalie, and third place went to Carrig for his feature on Scott City High School's 23-1 season in baseball under second-year coach Lance Amick.

Two-thirds of the available awards in the photography category went to Southeast Missourian photographers. First place in the spot news category went to Chuck Wu for his photo taken Sept. 27 after police shot a Tamms, Ill., man outside a Cape Girardeau bar. Second place in the category went to Aaron Eisenhauer for his photo of a man being rescued from floodwaters by a FedEx driver.

Other awards went to Elizabeth Dodd, who took second place in the feature photo category and third place in the sports photo category; Eisenhauer, who took first place in the sports photo category; and Kit Doyle, who took third place in feature photos.