With a sold-out crowd cheering on state media, the Daily Herald staff took home a number of awards at the Utah Society of Professional Journalist award night Thursday in Salt Lake City.

With more than 860 entries local newspapers and magazines, the competition was strong, and the Daily Herald earned three first place awards in its division. Spenser Heaps, former photo editor, won in the general news photojournalism category for his coverage of the Megan Grunwald trial. Features editor Doug Fox won first place for headline writing, and business and community reporter Karissa Neely took first place in business/consumer writing for spotlight on a Pleasant Grove hydroponic farm.

Second place wins went to photojournalist Grant Hindsley, health reporter Barbara Christiansen and sports columnist Darnell Dickson. Daily Herald staffers and editors took eight third place awards and three honorable mentions, with multiple repeat winners filling the ranks. As a whole, the Herald came in third in Best Newspaper category, after the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News — both of whom also took home numerous awards for their work in 2015.

The Society of Professional Journalists is “the nation’s most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior,” according to its website. Each year, panelists choose those stories from the previous year that represent the highest caliber of journalistic endeavors.