McIntosh County journalists have earned 10 first-place awards in the small weekly division of the Better Newspaper Contest, sponsored by the North Dakota Newspaper Association.

The honors, based on work published during the 2016 calendar year, were presented Friday to staff members of The Ashley Tribune and The Wishek Star during ceremonies at NDNA's 131st-annual convention.

NDNA and the South Dakota Newspaper Association held a joint convention at the Dakota Events Center in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Tony Bender, who publishes both The Star and The Tribune, and Bender's son, Dylan, took top honors in the General Reporting category for their story on the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, near Cannonball.

Tony and Dylan Bender and Star editor Francis Materi shared a first-place award in the Reporting Series category for stories on the pipeline protests and on the participation of McIntosh County law enforcement personnel, who assisted other agencies with efforts to control the protests amid worldwide headlines.

Materi won a first-place award in the Sports Reporting category for his coverage of the South Border girls golf team in winning the 2016 Class B state title.

Tony Bender took top honors in the Editorial category for an opinion piece that urged cooperation between the Wishek School District and the BEK Sports Network.

In a bit of a change-up, "That's Life," the long-running and often-humorous recap of Tony Bender's day-to-day existence, won a first-place award in the Personal Column (Serious) category.

The other five first-place honors came in the advertising portion of the contest.

Tony Bender, Materi and staff member Mary Baumann were recognized with first place in the Special Ad Section category for the spring edition of Ag Outlook.

First-place awards also went to Tony Bender for Health Care Ad, which he produced on behalf of Raile Insurance; Agricultural Ad, on behalf of Ashley Vet Clinic; Promotion of the Community, on behalf of Ashley Sizzling Summer Days; and Signature Page, for an ad honoring the state champion girls golf team.

In addition, second-place awards went to Dylan Bender for Spot News Photo, Tony Bender for Vehicle Ad and Materi for Government Reporting Series.

The team of Tony Bender, Baumann and Materi received third place for Special News Section; Tony Bender and Dylan Bender for Spot News; Bender for Personal Column (Humorous); and Baumann for Agricultural Coverage.

The North Dakota contest was judged this year by members of the Montana Newspaper Association.