The Greenville Advocate staff won awards in eight of 28 categories in the 2001 Alabama Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

The Advocate staff won four first-place awards. George Wacha won first place in best sports column for "Don't forget your mother." Eric Bishop won first place in best humorous or human interest column for "You'll never forget time spent with loved ones" and in best headline for "What-A-Melon." The Advocate also won first place for best editorial pages.

The Advocate staff won second place in best use of news/feature graphics of illustrations for the "Greenville Magazine," and three third-place awards. George Wacha won third place in best spot news for "Train derails." Eric Bishop won third place for best editorial for "District Attorney, drug task force need to put personal differences aside," and the Advocate won third place in best sports pages.

Seventy-one papers submitted 2,423 entries in the annual contest. The entries were judged by the Tennessee Press Association.

The awards will be presented July 21 at APA's 130th annual summer convention at The Grand Hotel in Point Clear.