Mililani High School garnered the most awards among the state’s public and private schools that submitted entries for the 45th annual Hawaii High School Journalism Awards.

"I’m just blown away," said April-Joy McCann, editor in chief of the Trojan Times. "We put a lot of hard work into what we do as a publication."

The annual awards ceremony and luncheon were held Wednesday at the Pagoda Hotel to recognize Hawaii’s high schools that excelled in journalism. Nineteen schools participated in two divisions: print and online. Seven were private schools and 12 were public schools.

The contest was sponsored by the Hawaii Publishers Association, the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser and MidWeek.

Mililani High took home 18 awards, including first place for best in state in the print division. The school won the same award four years ago.

"We take a lot of pride in our work that we put out for the print division. So coming away with best in state was an amazing feeling," McCann, 18, said after the ceremony.

Hawaii Baptist Academy won 14 awards, including state winner for best website in the online division. Eunice Sim, adviser for the private school’s newspaper and website, Eagle Eye, said this is HBA’s first year to have a website.

"I’m really proud of what they’ve done," she said. "They’ve done really good work and are really motivated. They are deserving of the awards."

The staff of four students at Kamehameha Schools Maui won 14 awards. Among the schools’ accolades include first place for Best in State in the online division and state winner for best multimedia presentation for its website, Ka Leo o Na Koa.

Editor Jaylin Kekiwi, 17, said, "It’s pretty exciting, because we honestly didn’t think we would win much, let alone that much. So it’s great."

Adviser Kye Haina said she is proud of her students.

"We really focused on online," she said. "It’s nice to be rewarded and recognized even though we faced challenges this year."

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

… in individual print and online categories as selected by a panel of judges. Another panel then picked the state winner.