MIDWEST CITY— The Ponca City News won two first-place awards — for advertising and news writing — in the Oklahoma Press Association's 2009 Better Newspaper Contest.

The News competed in Division 1, for daily newspapers with circulations of 8,200 or more. There are nine divisions, based on the size of circulation.

Winners of the contest were announced Friday night at the Reed Convention Center in Midwest City.

Members of the Colorado Press Association judged a total of 850 entries received from 86 newspapers in the 2009 Better Newspaper Contest.

Recipients of the 2009 Sequoyah Award, the highest honor in the annual contest, were The Norman Transcript, Stillwater NewsPress, The Journal Record, Stigler News-Sentinel, The Cleveland American, The Newcastle Pacer, Tulsa County News, El Reno Tribune and Mustang Times. The Sequoyah Award is based on total points accumulated in all events.