Bellevue Reporter photographer Chad Coleman was named Photographer of the Year at the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s 2010 Better Newspaper Contest.

Coleman’s award was one of 14 earned by Bellevue Reporter staff members that included 11 first-place awards and three for second place.

The Bellevue Reporter is part of Sound Publishing, whose individuals and staffs won 174 awards in the statewide contest. Awards were presented Oct. 1 at the WNPA’s annual conference and banquet in Wenatchee, with a contingent of 14 Sound Publishing executives, publishers and editors in attendance.

Award-winners at the Bellevue Reporter include:

Coleman, who in addition to his Photographer of the Year award, won first place for Best Portrait Photo for a picture of Kemper Freeman; first place for Best Sports Photo for a picture of a Bellevue High School basketball player; first place for his blog, Focus Northwest where he discusses photography and photo techniques; and second place in Best Feature Photo – Color for a picture taken at a Bellevue fashion show.

Joel Willits, first place in Best Sports News Story for an article about the state of football in Texas (when Bellevue went to Katy, Texas for a game); Best Sports Personality Profile for a story about a high school football player pushing aside his Asperger’s syndrome to play; and first place in Best Other Internet Feature for his Cover It Live reporting of the Bellevue-Katy football game.

Josh Hicks in Best Breaking News Story for an article about a man whose legs were crushed at a car wash; first place in Best Government Reporting for an article about council member Kevin Wallace and the Bellevue City Council; and first place in Best Crime and Courts Story for an article about Bellevue Police charging the “Copperfield girl” with prostitution.

Craig Groshart, second place in Best Editorial for writing about Gov. Gregoire’s sin taxes.

Janet Taylor, Groshart, Lindsay Larin and Kali Stanger won second place in Best Special Section – Livestyle/Culture for The Scene magazine.

The Reporter papers as a group won first place in Best Special Section – Topical/Non-Tourism for Navigate the Future which took an in-depth look at transportation issues in the region.

In addition, Nat Levy, now on the Bellevue Reporter staff, won third place in Best Government Reporting for a story he did while at the Bainbridge Island Review, one of Sound Publishing’s newspapers on the west side of Puget Sound.