Colorado Sun wins 28 awards, including 14 first-place, in Top of the Rockies competition

The Colorado Sun hauled away 28 awards in the four-state Top of the Rockies journalism contest over the weekend, including 14 first-place wins and the prestigious Public Service Award.

We’re so proud of this recognition from our peers in the Society of Professional Journalists, but we are even more grateful to our Sun community of members for providing the support that makes this kind of quality journalism possible.

(And it’s never too late to join: )

The Sun staff is just 13 full-time journalists (and our amazing freelance friends), but we decided to enter in the large media category and compete against the top news organizations in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming.

We also want to acknowledge the excellent work of our Colorado colleagues who took home awards in the medium-sized and smaller categories, including Colorado Public Radio, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Durango Herald and others. See the full list of results here.

The Sun was honored for some of its major journalism packages over the past year, including two collaborative projects that we put together with colleagues from other news organizations around the state (first place in General Reporting-Series or Package for Parked: Half the American Dream), and students at the University of Colorado Boulder (third place in the same category for Gentrification).

We’re particularly proud of winning first place for Public Service, since that’s what we’re all about. The judges recognized our Capitol Sunlight Project, which explains how the statehouse works, holds the governor accountable with the Polis Promise Tracker and helps citizens be more engaged.

And, by the way, we’re also very proud of Sun reporter Jennifer Brown, who won second place in the Best of the West journalism contest, which considered entries from 14 states. She was recognized for “A Snapchat video of a 13-year-old boy’s suicide roiled a Colorado town — and left police chasing social media ghosts.”

OUR UNDERWRITERS SUPPORT JOURNALISM. BECOME ONE.

“This story really challenged for top spot because it is the one out of 86 I could not get out of my mind … really good writing and a sad commentary on today’s youth and social media,” the judge wrote.

We’re thrilled by this recognition, but these awards really belong to you, our Sun members. Your support allows us to dig in deep and produce the quality stories that Colorado needs and deserves.

So congratulations — and thanks — to you!