Orange — The Day received 19 first-place awards at the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists annual meeting and Excellence in Journalism Awards ceremony held Thursday night at the Grassy Hill Country Club.

Also at the meeting, Lindsay Boyle, The Day's breaking news editor, was elected to the SPJ board.

First-place winners were: 

Carlos Virgen and Julia Bergman in audio storytelling for "What it's like to be a submariner."

Lindsay Boyle and Carlos Virgen in data reporting for "Connecticut sees sharp increase in overdose deaths of  young women." Boyle in diversity coverage for "Pathways: The road to lawful residency in the U.S."

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Erica Moser in business reporting for "In EB's shadow, smaller manufacturers tackle skills gap."

Paul Choiniere in editorial for "Prepare to challenge speech, not silence it." Choiniere and Jacinta Meyers in editorial cartoon for "SunDay Cartoon: Sandy Hook ('More Tears')."

Claire Bessette in education reporting for "No longer a simple question: Where are you going to high school?" and government reporting for "Preston: Small town on the verge of something big."

Deborah Straszheim in in-depth reporting for "Some lawyers say child welfare system violates parents' rights."

David Collins in general column for "Hushing up Block Island crime." Steve Fagin in humorous column for "On the cutting edge: Lumberjack Festival."

Sean D. Elliot in feature story for "Eagle transforms swabs into cadets."

Vickie Fulkerson in sports feature for "Montville coach tackles grand slam of distance running," and sports news, "Transgender athlete takes spotlight in girls' meet."

Sean D. Elliot in feature photo, sports photo and photo essay, and Sarah Gordon in news photo.

Peter Huoppi in video storytelling for "Wired Zone: Waterford-Stonington Play for the Cure softball."

Others winners were: Kristina Dorsey won second place in arts & entertainment reporting; Rick Koster and Huoppi, second place in audio storytelling; Bergman, second place in business reporting, and third place, feature story; Boyle and Karen Florin, second place in continuing coverage; Boyle, third place in crime coverage; Kimberly Drelich, second place in feature story; Choiniere, second place in editorial writing; Tim Cook, second place in feature photo; Dana Jensen, second place in photo essay and third place in feature photo, news photo and sports photo; Fagin, third place in humorous column; John Ruddy, second place in page one layout; Fulkerson, second place in sports feature; and Huoppi, Cook and Elliot, third place in video storytelling.