The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) announced the winners of their Region 11 Mark of Excellence Awards in Las Vegas over the weekend, recognizing several of USC Annenberg’s student-run news organizations.

USC Annenberg’s Neon Tommy, Annenberg Television News (ATVN), and Annenberg Radio News competed against other organizations from universities in Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada. Neon Tommy, who took home five awards, received the third place award for Best Independent Online Student Publication (Large).

Catherine Green, Corrina Shuang Liu, Paige Brettingen and Benjamin Gottlieb, of Neon Tommy, received the first place award in Online News Reporting (Large) for their story, “Ongoing Coverage of April 2012 USC Shooting.”

Neon Tommy’s Catherine Green, Agnus-Dei Farrant and Matt Pressberg received the third place award in Online In-Depth Reporting (Large) for the story, “L.A. Riots: 20 Years After the Unrest.”

The first place award in Online Sports Reporting (Large) went to Neon Tommy’s Jonathan Kendrick. He was recognized for his story, “How High School Eligibility Rules Spiked Todd Hunt’s Football Dreams.”

Tom Dotan, former writer for Neon Tommy, received the second place award in Online Opinion and Commentary (Large).

ATVN received the second place award in Television General News Reporting for Vicki Chen’s piece, “Urban Barn Teaches Teamwork through Horseback Riding.”

Aaron Schrank on Annenberg Radio News received the first place award in Radio Feature. He was recognized for his piece, “A Deaf Man Hears Music.”

The first place winners head to Anaheim in August for SPJ’s national student conference. There, they will compete against the winners from the other 12 SPJ regions.

Read more about the awards here and here. See the other winners here.