The Iowa High School Press Association determines News Team of the Year finalists by choosing the schools with the highest number of individual award winners from its annual writing, photography, design and online contests. IHSPA awarded the WSS with 60 individual wins, for a total of 224 points — the most points in the large school category in the state.

The WSS staff swept first-third places in the state in six different categories: multimedia news, multimedia sports, photo slideshow, reviews, video news show and video story.

First place winners:

1. Web design for wsspaper.com, WSS staff
2. Feature photo: “Cows and broccoli trees” by Aditi Borde
3. Feature story: “Fighting for change: examining the combative culture at West High” by Alex Carlon and Joe Goodman
4. Multimedia feature story: “Emmie Boylan: living with spina bifida” by Bess Frerichs
5. Multimedia news story: “Iowa caucus preview: how students can get involved this February” by Natalie Dunlap, Abby McKeone, Ken Wilbur
6. Multimedia sports story: “Beneath the jersey: the 20-year history of sports uniforms at West” by Joe Goodman and Natalie Katz
7. Photo slideshow: “Football team loses to Rams 23-21” by Owen Aanestad
8. Review: “‘Jojo Rabbit’ is a powerhouse of comedy and emotion” by Edward Keen
9. Editorial: “Social media spies” by Jenna Wang
10. Video news show: “West High Weekly 1.31.20” by Tosh Klever and Jillian Prescott
11. Video story: “Recruiting Trail with Lily Ernst” by Joe Goodman and Tosh Klever

Second place winners:

1. West Side Story social media accounts, WSS staff
2. Column: “Twenty-first century plague” by Ken Wilbur
3. Editorial cartoon/comic strip: “I thought it was break” by Cameron Reimers
4. Infographic: “Scholastic statistics” by Youjoo Lee
5. Multimedia news story: “Human Rights Campaign announces Municipal Equality Index in Iowa City” by Bess Frerichs and Gwen Watson
6. Multimedia sports story: “Mind over matter” by Joe Goodman
7. Newsmagazine one-page design: “Unsustainable cover” by Paras Bassuk and Brenda Gao
8. News photo: “Elizabeth Warren at West” by Paras Bassuk
9. Personality profile: “Postoperative” by Natalie Dunlap
10. Photo slideshow: “Greta Thunberg speaks at Iowa City climate strike” by Aditi Borde
11. Podcasting: “West Side Radio: Breaking borders with Mami Selemani ’20” by Ken Wilbur
12. Reviews: “‘The Lighthouse’ is without question the best film of the year” by Jack Harris
13. Sports story: “Mind over matter” by Joe Goodman
14. Video news show: “West High Weekly 9.20.19” by Tosh Klever and Jillian Prescott
15. Video story: “West journalists take on boxing” by Tosh Klever

Third place winners:

1. Editorial cartoon/comic strip: “I’ll love you forever” by Emma Hall
2. Feature photo: “Photo feature Best Buddies & PALs” by Paras Bassuk
3. Multimedia feature story: “Coming Out Day: ‘It’s too much work to not be who you are.’” by Natalie Dunlap
4. Multimedia news story: “Iowa caucus recap: student perspectives and result analysis” by Alexis Dick, Natalie Dunlap and Ken Wilbur
5. Multimedia sports story: “2019 Drake Relays qualifiers” by Joe Goodman
6. Newsmagazine multi-page design: “High stakes” by Amy Liao
7. Newsmagazine one-page design: “High stakes cover” by Amy Liao
8. News photo: “Greta in Iowa City” by Paras Bassuk
9. News story: “West High Supply preps for grand re-opening” by Natalie Dunlap
10. Photo slideshow: “West football beaten down by bruising Bulldogs 42-15” by Owen Aanestad
11. Photo story: “Elizabeth Warren at West days before Iowa caucus” by Paras Bassuk
12. Review: “‘Joker’ review and why we need controversies” by Jack Harris
13. Video news show: “West High Weekly 2.28.20” by Tosh Klever and Jillian Prescott
14. Video story: “Recruiting Trail with Tate Crane” by Joe Goodman and Tosh Klever

Honorable mentions:

1. Column: “Sincerely, Sumner: the PowerSchool problem” by Sumner Wallace
2. Editorial cartoon/comic strip: “Summer, get ready for…” by Brenda Gao and Selina Hua
3. Feature photo: “Sampradaya Bharatanatyam Troupe of Iowa City” by Caroline Barker
4. Feature story: “Fighting for faith” by Misha Canin and Annabel Hendrickson
5. In-depth news story: “Securing safety?” by Marta Leira and Isaac Young
6. Multimedia news story: “Greta Thunberg speaks at Iowa City climate strike” by Aditi Borde, Alex Carlon and Marta Leira
7. Multimedia sports story: “Meet the boys golf captains” by Joe Goodman
8. Multimedia sports story: “Boxed out: the exploitation of college athletes” by Joe Goodman
9. Newsmagazine one-page design: “Fighting for faith cover” by Amy Liao
10. News photo: “Save me” by Paras Bassuk
11. Personality profile: “Playing at heart strings” by Jenna Wang
12. Reviews: “Top 10 best and worst of West uniforms” by Joe Goodman
13. Sports photo: “Marcus Morgan” by Owen Aanestad
14. Sports story: “Wrestling with stereotypes” by Hanah Kitamoto
15. Staff editorial: “Colorful?” by Jenna Wang
16. Video news show: “West High Weekly 12.20.19” by Tosh Klever and Jillian Prescott
17. Video news show: “West High Weekly 11.1.19” by Tosh Klever and Jillian Prescott
18. Video story: “Sydís Sweets: angel food cake” by Ella Rosenthal and Sydney Wildes
19. Ads: “Red Ginger” by Brenda Gao
20. Entertainment: “How VSCO are you?” by Youjoo Lee and Sumner Wallace

Additionally, IHSPA named Owen Aanestad second place Hawkeye Photographer of the Year and Marta Leira second place Writer of the Year. 

IHSPA also identified Owen Aanestad, Alex Carlon, Bess Frerichs, Brenda Gao, Kailey Gee, Hanah Kitamoto, Marta Leira and Alyssa Skala as Emerging Journalist Finalists, a program which seeks to acknowledge emerging talent in newspaper, yearbook and digital media students. From the 41 state finalists, IHSPA then selected 10 Emerging Journalist winners based on the overall quality of their work, the impact on their school and community, the students’ understanding of the fundamentals of journalism and the level of experimentation. Three of the ten winners are from West High, and they are Owen Aanestad, Alex Carlon and Brenda Gao.

IHSPA honored Natalie Dunlap and Joe Goodman as IHSPA Scholars, an academic honor for seniors.