Thestate.com

The State newspaper won three Awards of Excellence in the International Society for News Design’s annual competition.

The State was honored in three categories: photography/multiple photos, photography/single photos, and special coverage/single section, where GoGamecocks magazine was honored. Key contributors were photographer Gerry Melendez, assistant sports editor Meredith Sheffer and executive sports editor Rick Millians. There were 9,262 entries and 727 winners from 30 countries in the design contest.

No other S.C. newspaper was honored. Over the past five years, The State has won more international awards in design and photo than any other S.C. newspaper. The State also was the most-honored McClatchy newspaper this year in the contest.

“The awards are a reflection of the strong commitment to excellence to visual journalism here at The State,” said Tom Peyton, visual editor. “Gerry and Meredith are passionate about their professions and the awards are easily deserving of their efforts.

“The connection among the three awards is the value that Rick Millians gives to great visuals in the Sports news department.”

Melendez also received an Award of Excellence in the annual Photographer of the Year International contest. Among the thousands of entries, Melendez competed with photographers from Time magazine, The New York Times, National Geographic, The Associated Press, The Denver Post, Los Angeles Times and Getty Images, among others.

Melendez was honored for his photo story on USC’s 2012 “Road to Omaha,” a season-long project that saw him capture USC’s runner-up finish in the College World Series.

“I am honored to have the ‘Road to Omaha’ images recognized by Pictures of The Year International, one of the oldest and most prestigious photo contests in the world,” Melendez said. “We have an amazing photography staff here at The State, and we continue to inspire each other to do better work every year.”