NORFOLK -- Northern Virginia Daily staff members received 52 awards for excellence in writing, photography, newspaper design and advertising Saturday during a Virginia Press Association conference.

The association, which met at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott, also presented its prestigious Sweepstakes award to the Daily, honoring the Strasburg-based newspaper for accumulating the most points in the 2010 editorial awards competition. The Daily competes with Virginia newspapers with daily circulation of up to 20,000.

The Waynesboro News Virginian finished second in the Sweepstakes competition for the Daily's circulation category.

The Daily, which accumulated 81 points in the association's editorial contest, has won the Sweepstakes competition 11 years in a row and in 20 of the last 23 years.

Sweepstakes awards also were presented to the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star in the association's category for medium-size daily newspapers, and to the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot in the category for the state's largest newspapers.

The association, which represents almost every newspaper in Virginia, holds one of the largest editorial contests in the nation. The 2010 contest was judged by members of the Missouri Press Association.

In the editorial competition, the Daily received 15 first-place awards, 11 second-place awards and 14 third-place awards. In the advertising competition, the newspaper received five first-place awards, four second-place awards and three third-place awards.

The Daily received writing awards for:

• Health, science and environmental writing: First place, for James Heffernan; second place, for Jessica Wiant; and third place, for Sally Voth.
• Education writing: First place, for J.R. Williams; and third place, for Preston Knight.
• Editorial writing: First place, for Chris Fordney.
• Column writing: First place, for Bob Wooten.
• Breaking news writing: Second place ("Repair shop fire"), for Williams; and third place ("Drowning"), for Linwood Outlaw III.
• Feature writing portfolio: Second place, for Wiant; and third place, for Laetitia Clayton.
• Critical writing: Second place, for John Horan Jr.
• Personal service writing: Second place, for Voth.
• Business and financial writing: Third place, for Amber Marra.
• Sports column writing: Third place, for Jeff Nations.
• General news writing: Third place ("Snowmageddon"), for the Daily staff.
The Daily received design awards for:
• Illustrations: First place ("Uncle Sam and student loans"); and second place ("Interpreting dreams"), both for Anthony Ring.
• Combination picture and story: First place ("Family ties") for Wiant, Rich Cooley and Josette Keelor; and third place ("Ramsey Hardware"), for Wiant and Cooley.
• Headline writing: First place for Heffernan.
• Lifestyle or entertainment pages: First place, for the Valley Scene staff.
• Specialty pages or sections: Second place ("All-area teams"), for the Daily sports staff; and third place ("Valley Scene food pages"), for Laetitia Clayton and Jessica Wiant.
• Informational graphics: Second place ("Snowstorm"), for Linda De Rosa.
• General makeup: Third place, for the Daily staff.
The Daily received photography awards for:
• Personality or portrait photo: First place ("Sampling the wares"), for Cooley; second place ("Battling cancer"), for Dennis Grundman; and third place ("Fire on a cold morning"), for Cooley.
• Breaking news photo: First place ("Woman dies in train crash"), for Cooley.
• General news photo: First place ("Law enforcement memorial"), for Cooley.
• Photo-illustration: First place ("Prep football special section"), for Cooley and Nations.
• Pictorial photo: First place ("Bubble boy") for Cooley.
• Sports feature photo: First place ("Mud-slinging fun") for Cooley.
• Sports news photo: Second place ("At home plate"), for Grundman.
• General news photo: Third place ("Veterans honored"), for Cooley
• Picture story or essay: Third place ("Crystal vision"), for Cooley.
The Daily received multimedia project awards for:
• Online slideshow: First place ("Breaking rocks"), for Cooley and Linda O'Dell Ash; and second place ("Whiteout 2010"), for Cooley and Ash.
• Online video: Third place ("Drought"), for Ash.
• The Daily received advertising awards for:
• Education and churches -- color: First place ("Weichert Realtors"), for Judy Maguire and Elaine Roland; second place ("Hey Kids"), for Cheryl Dellinger and Ring; and third place ("Performance ad"), for Louise Coleman and Allen Dec.
• Real estate -- black and white: First place ("A place we call home"), for Dellinger and Carol Hough.
• Small space ad -- black and white: First place ("Sweet sixteen"), for Coleman and Dec.
• Entertainment and Lifestyles -- black and white: First place ("Puppy cottage"), for Feletia Sharples, Ring and Cindy Copp.
• Automotive -- black and white: First place ("Marlow Motors"), for Elisa Grimes and Ring.
• Home and Garden -- color: Second place ("Ultimate sleep sale"), for Dellinger and Hough.
• Real Estate -- color: Second place ("Loving Arms Assisted Living"), for Maguire and Ring.
• Food and drug -- black and white: Second place ("Woodstock Fire Department"), for Coleman and Roland.
• Non-paid advertising/member self promotion -- black and white: Third place ("See Shenandoah"), for Ring.
• Non-paid advertising/member self promotion -- color: Third place ("NVD house ad/greetings ad"), Debbie Fadely and Ring.

• Full results, including judges' comments, are posted at www.vpa.net.