Oxford Leader Editor C.J. Carnacchio received five Excellence in Journalism awards for his writing and photography skills last week from the Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ).

In the Editorial Writing category, Carnacchio earned first place for his Oct. 31, 2018 piece, “Our picks for school board.” In addition to endorsing four candidates for the Oxford Board of Education, the editorial addressed the type of person that voters should avoid electing to boards.

Carnacchio, 43, of Oxford Village, picked up another first place award in the Sports Photography category for his April 25, 2018 image entitled, “Pure Muscle!” Taken at the 56th Annual Elmer Ball Track and Field Invitational, it shows then-OHS senior Rick Galbraith competing in the shot put event. “Great job! Compelling photo,” the judge wrote.

In the area of news writing, Carnacchio earned two second place awards.

One was in the Community/Local News Reporting category for Carnacchio’s Aug. 29, 2018 article, “County knew culvert was in bad shape.” The story focused on how documents showed the Road Commission for Oakland County knew for years that a culvert beneath a subdivision road in Oxford Township was steadily deteriorating and had been informed it was on the verge of failing shortly before it did in February 2018, causing a massive sinkhole.

The other second place award was in the Spot or Breaking News Reporting category. It was for Carnacchio’s May 30, 2018 article, “Student’s death sparks outpouring of support.” The story was about the untimely death of LaFrance Marshall, a 16-year-old Oxford High School sophomore who accidentally drowned while swimming with friends in Clear Lake over Memorial Day weekend.

Carnacchio’s fifth award was in the Feature Photography category. He received third place for a June 6, 2018 photo entitled, “Woo-hoo, no more school!” The image showed Oxford Elementary student Tyler Williams getting soaked with water during the school’s annual Field Day.

All of Carnacchio’s SPJ awards were earned in the Print Class C division, which is for non-daily newspapers, magazines and trade publications with circulations less than 50,000.

Class C includes media outlets such as Crain’s Detroit Business, Hour Detroit, SEEN Magazine, C&G Newspapers, The Voice Newspapers, Grosse Pointe Times and Detroit Jewish News.

Since joining the Leader shortly after graduating from the University of Michigan in 1999, Carnacchio has earned a total of 110 awards from the SPJ, Michigan Press Association and the National Newspaper Association.

On May 10, Carnacchio will celebrate his 20th anniversary with the newspaper.