The Mercer Island Reporter staff won seven awards in the Washington Newspapers Publishers Association 2012 Better Newspaper Contest. The awards were given at the WNPA’s 125th annual convention last weekend in Yakima.

Entries in the contest were judged by the New York Press Association.

Reporter writers won three awards overall. Megan Managan won first place in the Best Sports News Story category for “Heart defects in young athletes rare but deadly.”

Rebecca Mar won first place in the Best Personality Profile (Short) category for “Marine is witness to history.”

Linda Ball, now with the Issaquah-Sammamish Reporter, won second place in the Best Education Story category for “$196 million for new schools.”

Melanie Morgan, creative artist, won three awards for Best Branding Ad, Humor In Advertising and Best Special Section Cover.

The Mercer Island Reporter took third place in the General Excellence contest, the fifth time that the paper has been recognized in the overall category in its circulation division in the past nine years. The publication took first place in 2008 and 2009, and second place in 2004 and 2007.