Writers, editors and designers of Drake Magazine have a new reason to be proud.

The publication won the Associated Col­legiate Press (ACP) Pacemaker Award Satur­day, beating out schools across the country to claim the national prize. In addition, Drake University graduate Brittainey Sieren placed third in the magazine spread design category and senior Danny Akright received an hon­orable mention in the feature photography category for his image of a bulldog in a bath­tub, published in last year’s Relays Edition of The Times-Delphic.

“The Pacemaker Award is the most pres­tigious award in student publishing,” said Lori Blachford, the chair of magazine jour­nalism, in a Drake University press release. “To receive recognition as an outstanding magazine of the year from (ACP) is a real honor.”

The staff of San Francisco’s “Wired” magazine judged Drake Magazine on art, photography, graphics, content, layout and design, overall concept or theme and quality of writing and edition.

The periodical is written entirely by un­dergraduate students.

“I loved working on Drake Magazine,” said Tara Richards, a senior magazine ma­jor who served as the publication’s editor-in-chief last year. “The whole staff was extremely dedicated to the project, and we gave our all to make sure the publication was the best it could be.”

Kathleen Richardson, director of the School of Journalism and Mass Commu­nication, said she was thrilled about the award.

“This is a national award that puts the Drake student magazine at the top of the pack for student publications,” Richardson said in the press release. “Almost all of the other finalists were from bigger schools.”

Blachford said that one of Drake Maga­zine’s biggest assets is that it offers students the chance to gain real-life experience in magazine production.

“They start each semester with a collec­tion of blank pages and make all the deci­sions required to arrive at the end of the semester with a magazine that represents their best work,” Blachford said in the press release.

The Drake University publication THINK was also nominated as a Pacemak­er finalist in the category of Online-only/ Broadcast/Magazine/Yearbook. THINK is produced by the News/Internet Journalism senior capstone class.