For the 11th time since the inception of the general excellence, or sweepstakes award as it was originally known, the Southern Standard has claimed the top award in the 15,000 to 50,000 combined weekly circulation division of the Tennessee Press Association newspaper contest. Publisher Patricia Zechman attended the Thursday night awards banquet in Knoxville, bringing home 16 respective awards on behalf of the Standard, including four first-place awards in the categories of best website, best sports writing, best headline writing and best news photograph.Newspaper writers, editors, designers and publishers claimed awards in the 2015 contest, co-sponsored by the University of Tennessee. The event was held in conjunction with the press association’s summer convention.