BELLE — The Maries County Advocate brought home four honors in the 2026 Better Newspaper Contest on Sept. 26, including a first-place award for sports photography and three second-place finishes recognizing the newspaper’s photography and reporting.

Will Johnson earned first place for Best Sports Photograph for his entry, “Play at the Plate,” leading the Advocate’s showing in this year’s competition.

Jacob Warden was elected to a three-year term to the Missouri Press Association Board alongside receiving second place for Best Photo Package for his coverage of the Belle Livestock Sale. The award recognizes a collection of photographs working together to document an event and tell its story visually.

Colin Willard, former Advocate reporter for the Vienna community, earned second place for Best Story About History for “HSMC’s ‘This & That’ album gives unidentified photos second chance.” The story focused on preserving local history and efforts to identify the people, places and moments captured in photographs whose stories might otherwise have been lost.

Advocate Staff Writer Edward Gehlert received second place for Best Military Story for “Young mechanic aims high in Army aviation career,” recognizing his feature on a young area resident, Dylan Neal, pursuing a career in Army aviation.

Together, the four awards recognize several of the areas at the heart of the Advocate’s work — documenting local events, preserving community history, telling the stories of area residents and capturing the moments that matter to readers.

The honors also reflect the range of work produced each week by the newspaper’s reporters and photographers, from the split-second timing required for an award-winning sports photograph to the research and interviewing behind long-form community features.

Award winners

• First place, Best Sports Photograph: Will Johnson — “Play at the Plate”

• Second place, Best Photo Package: Jacob Warden — “Belle Livestock Sale”

• Second place, Best Story About History: Colin Willard — “HSMC’s ‘This & That’ album gives unidentified photos second chance”

• Second place, Best Military Story: Edward Gehlert — “Young mechanic aims high in Army aviation career”

Additional honors for Warden Publishing staff include:

the Unterrified Democrat earned seven awards:

• First place, Best Sports Photograph: Neal Johnson — “Hit on the Head”

• First place, Best Health Story: Neal Johnson — “Kenna credits early detection, vigilance with surviving breast cancer”

• First place, Best Sports Feature Photograph: Will Johnson — “State Championship”

• Third place, Best Sports News Story or Package: Neal Johnson — “Robertson notches first career hit in MLB debut on Father’s Day”

• Third place, Best Sports Feature Photograph: Neal Johnson — “Volleyball Celebration”

• Third place, Best Military Story: Neal Johnson — “World War II veteran celebrates 100th birthday”

• Third place, Best Photo Package: Jacob Warden — “Bull Ride”

The Gasconade County Republican earned seven awards:

• First place, Best Breaking News Story: Dave Marner — “Dump Truck Kills One”

• First place, Best Newspaper in Education Project: Staff — “Dutchmill”

• Second place, General Excellence: Staff

• Second place, Best Front Page: Staff

• Third place, Best Photo Package: Dave Marner — “‘Gritty Growler’ paddler race”

• Third place, Best News or Feature Obituary: Roxie Murphy — “Community continues to grieve”

• Third place, Best Business Story: Elise Brochu — “Adam Puchta Winery