The Austin Daily Herald newsroom walked away Thursday evening with two first place awards from the Minnesota Newspaper Association contest.

Reporter Jason Schoonover won first place in Social Issues category for his story highlighting the fall of Main Street businesses in small towns. Photographer Eric Johnson earned the first place award in the Feature Photo category for his photo taken of Blooming Prairie football coach Chad Gimbel after the team’s victory.

According to the Minnesota Newspaper Association judges, Schoonover’s story “stood out because of the time and effort that went into the research, interviewing and writing of the final product.” Twenty seven entries from around the state were submitted in this category, which looked at social issues stories in daily newspapers with circulations under 10,000.

The MNA judges described Johnson’s award winning photo as one that tells the tale of how happy coach Gimbel was at the time of the victory. “You can just feel the excitement,” judges wrote. Thirty nine entries were submitted in this category.

Schoonover and Johnson were also recognized for their contributions to the Albert Lea Tribune’s second place Local Breaking News Coverage award for work related to the summer tornadoes of 2010.