The Rider Online, Legacy’s online newspaper, received the 2016 NSPA Online Pacemaker award at the NSPA National High School Convention in Los Angeles. Fifty online newspaper publications were named as finalists for the award. The prestigious honor was awarded to 25 schools from across the country. The Rider Online was one of just three winners from Texas. Co-Editor-in-Chief Alanna Zaskoda was ecstatic when The Rider Online’s name was announced at the awards ceremony.

“Part of me was expecting that it wasn’t going to happen,” Zaskoda said. “When they called our name I didn’t think about anything other than running to go get it [the pacemaker]. I haven’t been that excited in a long time.”

The 2016 Online Pacemaker award was the newspaper program’s fourth overall and second in a row. Co-Editor-in-Chief Sarah Pearson credits journalism advisers Leland Mallett and Rachel Dearinger with the success of the paper.

“Without them I wouldn’t know where to start. They are constantly guiding me us to get the job done right.” Pearson said. “We worked hard, so it was nice to have something tangible that shows all the hard work we put in over the years. It wasn’t unexpected. We know that other people think so too.”

Student media editors attended the national convention in LA to accept the award. Attendees of the NSPA convention may also submit publications for best of show. The Rider and The Arena (yearbook) previously won third place at the Orlando convention in the fall. Adviser Mr. Mallett hoped to place above third in LA for the publications. The 2015 yearbook won first place in the large yearbook category.

“I didn’t think we won anything as they were announcing the yearbooks in order 10-1,” Adviser Leland Mallett said. “I leaned over and told Ms. Dearinger that we must have entered the contest incorrectly.”

Mr. Mallett says the cheers from the Legacy students were louder than the applause for the Pacemaker.

“We weren’t expecting to win,” Features Editor Hannah Garcia said. “We were zoned out from the long award ceremony, so when everyone started cheering randomly, I was caught off guard.”

While the 12 students were in LA for the national convention, The Texas UIL journalism convention was taking place in Austin. The Rider also won the top Texas award for student publications, the Gold Star. The Arena also won a Silver Star. This is The Rider’s eighth consecutive Gold Star.

“I feel really lucky to be a part of such a successful journalism program,” Photo Editor Madison Brown said. “It’s also nice to be recognized for our hard work.”

Journalism students also won the following individual awards by the Interscholastic League Press Conference:

1st in News/Feature- Ben Townsend
1st in Sports Features- Nathan Nowlin & Fernando Fernandez
1st in Social Media- Trace Zalatoris
1st in Blogs- Ben Townsend
1st in Academic Story (Yearbook)- Shalavé Cawley
1st in Photo Portfolios (Yearbook)- Adriance Rhoades
3rd in Theme Selection and Development- Summer Campbell, Maddie Watkins, Shamiran Prater
3rd in Theme Copy and Captions- Summer Campbell, Shamiran Prater
3rd in Captions- Summer Campbell
3rd in Headlines- Carter Bonneau
HM in Headlines – Brooke Jackson
3rd in Index Spread- Lindsay Lucero
HM in Index Spread- Lindsay Lucero
HM in Sports Spread- Claire Gornall
3rd in Academic Spread- Shelby Warner
2nd in Club/Organization Spread- Melissa Kenney
2nd in Multi-Topic Spread- Shelby Warner
2nd in Secondary Coverage- Kyle Sims
HM in Secondary Coverage- Lindsay Lucero
2nd in Student Life Story- Shalavé Cawley
1st in Academic Story- Shalavé Cawley
3rd in Academic Story- Brooke Jackson
3rd in Sports Story- Shalavé Cawley
HM in Club/Organization Story- Monica Salazar
3rd in Student Life Photo- Sterling Greback
1st in Photo Portfolio- Adriance Rhoades
HM in News Writing- Phillip Smith
3rd in News Feature- Ashley Bow
HM in Personal Column- Sarah Pearson
2nd in Personal Opinion Column- Hannah Garcia
2nd in Sports Column- Grant Baker
3rd in Sports Column- Grant Baker
2nd in In Depth News/Feature Package- Hannah Garcia
3rd in Infographic/Sidebar- Jacob Friedberg
HM in Multimedia Video Package- Catherine Richardson
3rd in Sports Feature Photo- Brandon Bosecker
HM in Portrait- Maddy Brown
2nd in Photo Portfolio- Maddy Brown
HM in Home Page Design- Staff
2nd in Captions- Alanna Zaskoda