The Clanton Advertiser won several awards in this year’s Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

Seventy-six newspapers submitted 2,657 entries in the contest, which was judged by the Mississippi Press Association.

The Advertiser competes in Category B, against other community daily newspapers.

The Advertiser won the following awards:

•First place, Best Presentation of Online Advertising, for its website, www.clantonadvertiser.com.

•First place, Best Local Sports Column for “Are Booster Clubs Good for Sports?” by Stephen Dawkins, which examined the role high school booster clubs have on high school athletics.

•Second place, Best Editorial Page or Section.

•Second place, Best News Photo for “Up in the air” by Stephen Dawkins. The photo came from a rocket launch at Isabella High School.

•Third place, Best Local News Coverage.

•Third place, Best Business Story or Column for “Spillover Effect” by Scott Mims, which looked at what impact the Gulf oil spill was having on local businesses dependent on tourism dollars.

•Third place, Best Sports Single Event Story for “Horton Wins Demolition Derby” by Stephen Dawkins, which profiled the winner of the Chilton County Fair’s popular event.

•Third place, Best Presswork.

The Clanton Advertiser’s pressroom also prints the Shelby County Reporter and The Greenville Advocate. Both those newspapers won first place for Best Presswork in their categories.

“We are proud of the awards. It’s always nice to be recognized for your work, especially by your peers in the industry,” said Managing Editor Justin Averette. “However, we still have much work to do to continue to provide compelling content, both in print and online, that our readers expect and deserve. We look forward to that challenge and continually improving our products.”