PEORIA – Journal Star sportswriter Dave Eminian won three first-place awards during this year’s Illinois Press Association statewide newspaper contest.
He won first place in categories for sports column, sports feature and obituary tribute. He also placed second in his division for the obituary category and second in the category for localized national stories.
A judge said Eminian’s award-winning story about a 20-year-old who was killed in Peoria was a “beautifully written tribute to a young man who died tragically.” The judge also complimented Eminian’s writing for the second-place story about the death of a former Richwoods High football player.
“The lede in this one was heart wrenching, but definitely brought me into the article. This category is rather subjective, so maybe his age plays a factor, but the writing is definitely superb.”
Eminian also took first place for a feature about a Peoria native who chose to have his leg amputated so he could play high school football. In the category for localized national story, Eminian wrote about a local connection to the Hurricane Katrina anniversary.
Journal Star sportswriter Adam Duvall was also recognized in the statewide contest. He placed second for his coverage of the IHSA girls basketball state semifinals in 2025. Duvall also finished fourth in the category of feature writing/personality profile for a story about a Peoria attorney who has become known as an expert in the world of NIL, or name, image and likeness.
Journal Star photographer Matt Dayhoff was awarded fourth place for his photography in the sports photo category. Reporter Cassidy Waigand finished fourth in the category of business/economic reporting for a story about the closure of a Kroger location in Peoria.
The Illinois Press Association contest recognized journalists in a variety of categories for work published in 2025, splitting up newspapers into divisions based on their size. Journalists were honored June 4 at an awards ceremony at the Par-A-Dice hotel in East Peoria.
The Journal Star finished in third place for the Patrick Coburn Award of Excellence, which honors the top Division D daily newspaper. The Telegraph in Alton won the award, and the Intelligencer in Edwardsville was second.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Journal Star reporter wins first place in three categories in Illinois journalism contest
Reporting by Staff report, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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By Staff report, Peoria Journal Star | USA TODAY Network
