The Society of Professional Journalists announced Tuesday that the Minnesota Daily had won its Mark of Excellence Award as the best daily student newspaper among the nation’s four-year schools. This is the second year in a row that the Daily has won this award.

Daily Associate Editor Mike Mullen was a MOE finalist in the Sports Writing category for his story, “Athletic finances: a balancing act.“

The Mark of Excellence is one of the premiere student media competitions in the country. Winners and finalists in the national categories were first recognized as winners from one of the SPJ’s 12 local regions. In our region, which includes Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas, the Daily won four first place awards.

The Daily’s website is also nominated for the Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker award for the second year in a row. The website was one of 11 large school websites to win the award in 2010.