The Renegade Rip staff took top state honors during the annual Journalism Association of Community Colleges state competition held in Los Angeles April 1-4.

The newspaper won a total of 22 awards, including general excellence awards for its print and online publications. In addition, Rip Copy Editor Seth Nidever was announced as the only community college journalist in the state to win a $1,500 internship grant by the California Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation. Nidever was one of nine students in the state to receive the coveted grant which students receive after completing a newspaper internship. He has been hired as a summer intern for The Bakersfield Californian.

Besides that honor, he and other Rip staffers received awards during mail-in and on-the-spot competitions. The newspaper staff has won a total of 55 regional and state awards so far this year.

Mail-in awards included: depth news story/series, first place, The Renegade Rip; general excellence online journalism, The Renegade Rip; general excellence, broadsheet, The Renegade Rip; front page design, fourth place, The Renegade Rip; inside page layout, fourth place, Lee Maxwell; editorial cartoon, honorable mention, Mar Jo Jones; feature photo, honorable mention, Jennifer Ruiz; photo story/essay, honorable mention, Roger Hornback; photo story/essay, honorable mention, Lee Maxwell; online photo, honorable mention, Lee Maxwell; and online pohoto, honorable mention, Roger Hornback.

On-the-spot state awards included: editorial, third place, Seth Nidever; team feature, third place, Julianna Crisalli and Ian Hamilton; editorial cartoon, fourth place, Jeff Eagan; bring-in photo, honorable mention, Lee Maxwell; bring-in advertisment, honorable mention, Roger Hornback; sports photo, honorable mention; Ian Hamilton; sports photo, honorable mention, Aaron Stewart; feature photo, honorable mention, Lee Maxwell; and headline writing, honorable mention, Seth Nidever.