Vaqueros three-peat

Student Media and Gallery magazine secure 52 state awards

UTRGV Student Media members cheered Tuesday when Program Coordinator Jesus Sanchez announced they had taken home the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Director’s Cup for a third-consecutive year and fourth time in program history after competing in the association’s convention in San Marcos.

Members of The Rider newspaper, KVAQ-TV, Vaquero Radio and Pulse magazine represented the university at the convention held April 9 to 12 and won 52 state awards, beating out schools such as Baylor University, Texas State University and Texas A&M University.

TIPA is the oldest state collegiate press association in the nation and is one of the largest and most-respected collegiate groups in the country, according to its website. 

The Director’s Cup is awarded to the school that wins the most points by placing in the on-site live contests during the convention. 

Live contests allow students to compete in 30 categories that feature real-world scenarios and include print news writing, copy editing, TV advertising and PR release writing. 

Student Media won 11 live-contest awards.

The Rider Editor-in-chief Rebeca Salinas received first place in Newspaper Design; Copy Editor Carlos Castañeda, first place in Spanish News Writing; and Arts & Entertainment Reporter Eduardo Escamilla, third place in Feature Photo. 

KVAQ-TV News Director Fernanda Gonzalez received second place in  Spanish TV Announcing; TV Web Producer Juan Carlos Marquez Jr., second place in TV Advertising. 

Vaquero Radio Station Manager Jan Luis Trejo received first in Spanish Radio Announcing; Sports Reporter Leonardo Guajardo, second in Radio Sports Writing.

Pulse magazine Editorial Cartoonist Quinn Garza received first place in Editorial Cartoon; Graphic Design Editor Yuri Garcia, third place in Yearbook Design and an honorable mention in Magazine Design. 

UTRGV Student Media also won third place for the Hype Video.

In the previous published/broadcast competition, Student Media and Gallery magazine won 41 awards, including 14 for Vaquero Radio, 10 for The Rider, nine for KVAQ-TV, four for Pulse magazine, two for Gallery magazine and two for the Student Media advertising team.

Vaquero Radio won first in Advertising/Promo Audio, first in Audio Newscast and second in Advertising Campaign. 

Guajardo won first in Sports Reporting-Audio, first in Audio Sportscast and second in Audio Sportscast with News Director Victoria Gonzalez.

Gonzalez also won first in In-Depth News Reporting-Audio, first in General News Audio, second in In-Depth News Reporting-Audio, second in Audio Sports Reporting, and second in Advertising/Promo-Audio with Assistant Station Manager Ariana Gallardo. 

Gallardo also won second in Audio Feature Reporting; Program Director Joseph Zambrano, second in Audio Program Production; and former News Reporter Timothy Chapman, third in Audio Feature Reporting. 

The Rider won third in Social Media-Overall Excellence. 

Salinas won second in Spanish Opinion Writing; The Rider Social Media Editor Daniela Martinez Salazar,  third in Social Media-Breaking News and an honorable mention in General News Multimedia with former photographer Venisha Colon and former Editor-in-chief Natalie Lapsley.

Lapsley also won second in Multimedia Slideshow and an honorable mention in Editorial Cartoon; former photographer Silvana Villereal, third is Spanish Opinion Writing; and former Spanish Editor Fatima Gamez Lopez, first in Spanish News Story, second in Spanish News Story and second in Spanish Feature Story.

KVAQ-TV won first in Advertising/Promo-Audio, second in Video Newscast, second in Live Video Newscast and third in Video Program Production. 

Fernanda Gonzalez won third in General News Audio; Multimedia Journalist Perla Cortez, first in In-Depth News Reporting-Video; former News Reporter Andrea Flores, first in General News Video, former Assistant Station Manager Tristen Cortez, an honorable mention in General News Video; and Assistant Director Dathan Trevino, an honorable mention in Video Sportscast.  

Former Gallery magazine Editor-in-chief Maya Wilson and Art Director Anita Garza received an honorable mention for Literary Magazine Design; and contributor Carolina Cabrera, first place in Literary Writing.  

Former Marketing Specialist Bethany Godinez received second in Advertising/Promo-Video and an honorable mention in Static Ad Design. 

Former Student Media Director Azenett Cornejo was inducted into the TIPA Hall of Fame on April 11. 

Cornejo devoted more than 20 years to student media and grew the Student Media department at the University of Texas at Brownsville from a single newspaper medium to a multimedia program.

She oversaw the merger of the student media programs from UTB and the University of Texas-Pan American after the consolidation of the legacy institutions into UTRGV.