The Hatchet won two first place awards at the Society of Professional Journalist’s annual Region II conference Friday.

The paper’s editorial board won its first place accolade for three staff editorials on the lack of information after Taylor Hubbard’s death last May, President Steven Knapp’s scheduled absences from Colonial Inauguration last summer and the administration’s lack of a plan for Gelman Library.

The Hatchet’s website also took home a first place award. Since August, www.gwhatchet.com has been a daily paper with updates on the paper’s seven blogs. The staff also revamped the multimedia department this year, tripling the amount of multimedia pieces the paper produces.

The two first place submissions will move on to the Society of Professional Journalist’s national competition where all 12 of the nation’s SPJ regions will compete in the fall. The awards are arguably the most coveted awards in collegiate journalism.

Sports editor Louis Nelson got a second place nod for his piece on Kye Allums, the first transgender player in Division I basketball history. Contributing photo editor Francis Rivera was awarded a third place win for his photo coverage of the men’s swim team.

Region II includes D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and North Carolina. You can view all of the region’s winners here.