Los Medanos College’s Experience won 16 awards in the annual State Publications and On-the-Spot contests of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. The ceremony was part of the annual JACC journalism conference held in league with the Associated Collegiate Press and the California College Media Association. The event took place March 7 in San Francisco at the Hyatt Regency in the Embarcadero Center.
The weekly student news publication Experience, led by editor-in-chief Chijioke Onyeagucha, won General Excellence in the Publication Contest for its print edition published during the 2025 academic year. The Experience also won the prestigious Pacesetter Award which is earned based on a point system from wins in the annual state publication contest combined with wins in the on-the-spot contests at the conference. The LMC Experience has won the Pacesetter Award three years straight.
“To me, these awards are very fulfilling. It’s nice to get recognized for the work that we do together. The staffing awards are very exciting to see because it shows that we work together as a group well, and it does show our consistency as a news organization.” said Onyeagucha.
In addition to the awards honoring the Experience, 10 current and former staff members, including Onyeagucha, were honored with awards in a variety of writing, photography and design contests in both publication and on-the-spot contests:
Meritorious award
Multimedia Journalism Package: Online Editor Koen Steers, former Online Editor Lesly Fisiiahi, and former managing editors Angella Dorado and Finn Atkin for a collaborative story on scrapbooking.
First Place awards
Critical Review: Chijioke Onyeagucha for a review of the Met Gala featuring Black styles throughout history.
Feature Photo: Elizabeth Jacobo for a photo accompanying a story on nails as a fashion statement.
Second Place
Photo Story-Essay: Chijioke Onyeagucha and Koen Steers on photo coverage of the No Kings event in Washington D.C.
Podcast/Audio News: Jordan Suisala for Episode 1 of the podcast Unmuted.
Sports Game story: William Trowbridge for Mustang football game coverage.
Third Place
Front Page Layout: Chijioke Onyeagucha for a set of three fall front page designs.
Inside Page Layout: Chijioke Onyeagucha and William Trowbridge for the design of a package on the Mustang fantasy football lineup.
Feature Story: Chijioke Onyeagucha and William Trowbridge for a story on the Mustang fantasy football lineup.
Honorable Mention
Illustration: Liam Zeferino Ramirez for a stylized HBCU map.
Feature Story: Chijioke Onyeagucha for a story about protests headlined “American defiance in full swing.”
On-the-Spot Awards
First Place News Writing: Koen Steers for a competitive news story written on site about a conference event.
First Place News Judgment and Layout: Chijioke Onyeagucha for a contrived page design prepared ahead of the conference.
Second Place News Judgment and Layout: Michael Pacheco for a contrived page design prepared ahead of the conference.
Experience adviser Cindy McGrath praised the work of the LMC student journalists who won awards at the conference and emphasized that their pursuit and achievement of excellence continues.
“The staff is filled with dedicated and creative students, and I am proud of the work they do every week,” said McGrath. “Awards are a nice acknowledgment of their efforts, but the real prize is the experience that will prepare them for transfer to four-year schools, or for jobs as print, online or broadcast journalists when they leave LMC.”
Staff Editor Elizabeth Jacobo, who won first place for feature photo, said she wasn’t expecting to win anything.
“It was quite shocking to me.” she said. “I was really proud of myself for the work I did because it paid off at the end, and yeah, it felt pretty nice. It’s motivation to keep working harder.”
Managing Editor Michael Pacheco, who won an individual second place award in News Judgment and Layout, said he felt great about winning.
“I love that we won first and second place for layout in the on-the-spot contest. That just shows that we’re doing something right.” he said. “We work hard so, you know, it’s good to get some recognition. I’m just proud of all of us for putting in the effort and getting noticed.”
