R-J staffers capture ‘Best of the West’ awards

Las Vegas journalists excelled in this year's regional and national contests, pulling in a dozen awards.

Four Las Vegas Review-Journal staffers won in the Best of the West contest, open to journalists at any size media outlet in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Xazmin Garza won first place for feature writing, short form, for "High and Mighty or Bust?" -- her contemplation on the effects of gravity on her breasts at age 33 as she thinks back to what they looked like at age 24.

"Stunning first paragraph," wrote Mike Weinstein, senior features editor of The Charlotte Observer, who judged the category. "Then the writer introduces herself in the third sentence. Any reasonable soul is compelled to continue reading."

The story begins: "When a boy's testicles drop, he starts turning into a man. When a woman's breasts drop, she starts turning away from Forever 21. At least that's been my experience."

The judge wrote, "The story took a lot of chances in topic and tone for a conventional newspaper."

Three other staffers won second place:

■ Steve Bornfeld in arts and entertainment writing for his first-person memoir of actor Tony Curtis.

■ Mike Johnson for an informational graphic for a front-page layout showing the fatal fall of a stage rigger at the MGM Grand.

■ Matthew Crowley for headline writing for a portfolio of headlines.

Garza also won first place in the short feature category for the Society of Features Journalism excellence-in-writing contest. Bornfeld and Heidi Knapp Rinella received honorable mention for arts and entertainment coverage.

"To win two major awards only months apart only confirms what we've known here for a long time: Xazmin is an excellent writer," R-J features editor Frank Fertado said. "Her stories generally reflect a sense of humor, and she has a knack for choosing topics that are relevant to today's readers."

In the National Press Photographers Association's Best of Photojournalism contest, R-J photographer John Locher won third place in the "Road to Office" category for election photo stories. Locher's series of a dozen photos tracked the hotly contested 2010 U.S. Senate race between Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican challenger Sharron Angle.

"John's creativity captured some of the most amazing and candid moments with the candidates that I have ever seen from a Nevada campaign," said Jeff Scheid, the R-J's director of photography. "His photos told the visual story beyond what we usually see."

Locher's work was part of an R-J multimedia project called "Campaign Trails."

At the Las Vegas Sun, three staffers won Best of the West awards: Leila Navidi, first place for sports photography and second for feature photography; Mike Smith, first for editorial cartooning; and Spencer Holladay, first for page design.

Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@review journal.com or 702-383-0279.