Patricia Rocha of the Renegade Rip student newspaper staff won first place for mail-in critical review at the Journalism Association of Community Colleges conference held March 22-24 in Burbank.

Rocha’s review of “Star Wars” movies – after watching them for the first time – won against more than 100 other entries statewide. In the same category, the Rip’s Jon Nelson was awarded third place.

In other mail-in awards, the Rip’s Zak Cowan, Nate Perez and Eleonor Segura won honorable mention for inside-page layout with a story and photos on a local boxing club. Cowan also won honorable mention for front-page design, featuring three of the Rip’s front pages from the fall 2011 semester.

Students also participated in on-the-spot contests during the conference. The Rip’s Greg Cook placed fourth for page design, Breanna Fields earned honorable mention for critical review, and Nelson took another honorable mention for opinion writing.

The annual three-day state conference drew nearly 50 community colleges and more than 500 community college journalism students, who participated in workshops, contests and other activities.