UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With strong efforts in each of five monthly competitions, Penn State has claimed first place in the yearlong Intercollegiate Writing Competition conducted as part of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards program, often referred to as “the Pulitzers of college journalism.”

Penn State’s top individual finishers included a third-place finish by Anjelica Singer in features, and second and fifth place, respectively, for Jade Campos and Rory Pelella in explanatory writing. Additional monthly competitions focused on sports, personality/profile and investigative reporting, with Jillian Wesner, Caitlyn Garrity and Max Ralph all writing stories that scored in the top 10.

Behind Penn State in the top five were North Carolina, Indiana, Florida and Missouri. The top three intercollegiate winners earn $10,000, $4,000 and $2,000, respectively.

“It obviously great to win in any of the major Hearst categories,” said John Affleck, head of the Department of Journalism at Penn State and the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society. “Coming in first in writing is particularly gratifying as it’s the journalism skill that acts as an anchor to all types of storytelling.”

The Journalism Awards Program, now in its 63rd year, also includes two photojournalism, one audio, two television and four multimedia competitions. The final, overall results for the entire program are usually published in late May or June.

The program offers up to $700,000 in scholarships, matching grants and stipends. More than 100 member universities of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs are eligible to participate in the Hearst competitions.

Penn State has the highest average overall finish in the Hearst competition of any school in the Big Ten Conference and any school in the Northeast during the past decade and a half.