Marion County Record won a record 44 statewide awards in this year’s Kansas Press Association Awards of Excellence competition.

The total, announced Friday, easily eclipsed a previous record of 25 awards, set just a year earlier.

Among this year’s awards were 20 first-place plaques, including for overall news and writing excellence, design and layout excellence, best front page, and best sports pages.

News editor David Colburn won first place in investigative reporting with a story about whether Marion residents were paying too much for city water.

He, along with publisher Eric Meyer and former reporter Jason Tidd, now of the Wichita Eagle, won first place for a series of stories regarding an officer-involved shooting in Lehigh and the subsequent departure of a Marion police officer who is thought to have fired the fatal shots.

Meyer also won first place for best editorial writing and best column writing.

Colburn also won first place for best story originating from a public notice for coverage of a new cancer peril linked to blue-green algae at Marion Reservoir and Marion County Lake.

And he won first place for best photo package for coverage of Old Settlers Day.

He and reporter Phyllis Zorn shared first place for a story-and-photo package covering Chingawassa Days.

Reporter Rowena Plett won first place for education coverage for her story about a Wichita-area man returning to school via Centre’s online program to fulfill a promise made to his mother 40 years earlier.

Former reporter Oliver Good, now teaching writing in Lindsborg, won first place for youth coverage for his story about local metalcore musicians.

And Tidd won first place in feature writing for his story about a local food store employee who asks customers a question of the day.

Production director Melvin Honeyfield and sales manager Deb Steele won four first-place awards for advertisements for Baker Furniture, Cazadores, Great Plains Federal Credit Union, and Midway Motors.

Meyer won first place for an animated online ad for Great Plains Federal, and the newspaper won an overall first place for best special advertising section for its Explore Marion County section.

Other awards included:

SECOND PLACE

Overall — Editorial pages.

Colburn — Editorial writing, environmental coverage (blue-green algae), religion story (annual Father Kapaun pilgrimage), seniors story (50-year-old GTO), sports feature (softball player overcoming family difficulties), and spot news (toppled cement truck).

Honeyfield and Steele — Agricultural ad (Animal Health Center), automotive ad (Arlie’s Collision Specialists), grocery ad (Carlsons’), and professional service ad (Great Plains Federal).

Plett — Youth story (a long-distance relationship) and health story (beating addiction).

Tidd — Investigative story (departure of the officer thought to be involved in the Lehigh shooting) and sports story (changes in high school classifications).

THIRD PLACE

Colburn — News story (resignation of police sergeant over past domestic violence case) and spot news (110-year-old house destroyed by fire).

Good — Picture-and-story combination (artistic welder).

Honeyfield and Steele — Agricultural ad (Prairieland Partners), house ad (storm preparedness), professional service ad (Great Plains Federal), and specialty ad (Gallery 101).

Meyer — Infographic (county ambulance runs).

Tidd — Government or political story (Hillsboro mayoral forum).