Thirty-eight awards for excellence in high school journalism were awarded Wednesday at a reception for the winners of the annual San Francisco Peninsula Press Club High School Journalism Competition.

First-time entrant, The Colt Quarterly of El Camino High School in South San Francisco, took the top prize in General Excellence. The adviser and staff of the Colt Quarterly are shown above. The San Mateo Hi from San Mateo High School and The Oracle of Gunn High School in Palo Alto also placed in that category.

Overall, students from The Oracle carried home eight awards, the most of any school.

The awards were presented by Press Club President Jon Mays in the ballroom of Ralston Hall on the campus of Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont.

Ten high schools in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties participated with 167 students submitting 329 entries, up 27 percent from last year’s contest. The entries were judged by professional journalists of the Press Club.

For many years, the contest has been co-sponsored by Hillsdale Shopping Center and NDNU university.

Here is a complete list of the winners:

Website design
First: The Oracle, Gunn High School
Second: The Bearcat, San Mateo High School

Website Content
First: The Oracle, Gunn High School

Personal Column
First: Steven Hansen, the Colt Quarterly, El Camino High School
Second: Eliot Storch, The San Mateo Hi, San Mateo High School
HM: Alex Leos, The Burlingame B, Burlingame High School

Editorial
First: Jon Proctor, The Oracle, Gunn High School
Second: Phoebe Chao and Rachel Marcus, The Outlook, Aragon High School
HM: Ruben Robles, The Panther, Eastside College Prep
HM: Jael Campos, The Tom-Tom, Jefferson High School
HM Janelle Viray, The Tom-Tom, Jefferson High School

News photo
First: Missy Loeser, The Outlook, Aragon High School
Second: Rumaana Khan, The Panther, Eastside College Prep
HM: Eric Torres, The Outlook, Aragon High School

Sports story
First: Emma Tucher, Verde Magazine, Palo Alto High School
Second: Ken Wattana, Verde Magazine, Palo Alto High School
HM: Regina Ahn, The Oracle, Gunn High School,
HM: Dana Bloom, The Highlander, Carlmont High School
HM: Rebecca Gigi, The Colt Quarterly, El Camino High School

Feature photo
First: Hannah Chan, The Thunderbolt, Mills High School
Second: Henry Liu, The Oracle, Gunn High School
HM: Laney McGrew, The Highlander, Carlmont High School

News story
First: Christina Belasco, The Highlander, Carlmont High School
Second: Tiffany Hu, Niki Mata and Annie Shuey, The Oracle, Gunn High School.
HM: Chloe Chen and Patricia Ho, The Paly Voice, Palo Alto High School

Sports photo
First: Rumaana Khan, The Panther, Eastside College Preparatory
Second: Henry Liu, The Oracle, Gunn High School
HM: Kenan Chan, The Outlook, Aragon High School
HM: Marc Havlik, The Paly Voice, Palo Alto High School

Feature story
First: Manon von Kaenel, Verde Magazine, Palo Alto High School
Second: Alexandra Messick-Kopel, Verde Magazine, Palo Alto High School
HM: Mina Nilchian, San Mateo Hi, San Mateo High School
HM: Hannah Chan, The Thunderbolt, Mills High School

Layout and design
First: Sophie Cheng, The Oracle, Gunn High School
Second: Michael Wu, The San Mateo Hi, San Mateo High School
HM: The Panther, Eastside High School

General excellence
First: The Colt Quarterly, El Camino High School
Second: The San Mateo Hi, San Mateo High School
HM: The Oracle, Gunn High School