| Winner | Writer or Photographer | Newspaper | Name of Entry | Division | Class |
| 1st Place | Staff | The Hinsdalean | Best design | Non-Daily Division | Best Design |
| 2nd Place | Jack McCarthy | Suburban Chronicle | Best design | Non-Daily Division | Best Design |
| 3rd Place | Staff | Galena Gazette | Best design | Non-Daily Division | Best Design |
| 1st Place | Jay Dickerson | Galena Gazette | The Jo Daviess County March 15 primary | Non-Daily Division | Best Informational Graphic |
| 2nd Place | Kathy Ade | Evanston Round Table, L.L.C. | The Game | Non-Daily Division | Best Informational Graphic |
| 3rd Place | Larry Gavin | Evanston Round Table, L.L.C. | ETHS Achievement | Non-Daily Division | Best Informational Graphic |
| 1st Place | Hillary Dickerson | Galena Gazette | Headlines | Non-Daily Division | Best Headline Writing |
| 2nd Place | Tarah Thorne | Lake County Journal | Tarah headlines | Non-Daily Division | Best Headline Writing |
| 3rd Place | Mary Helt Gavin | Evanston Round Table, L.L.C. | Mary Helt Gavin | Non-Daily Division | Best Headline Writing |
| 1st Place | Staff | Lake County Journal | Lake County Journal Forefronts | Non-Daily Division | Best Special Section |
| 2nd Place | Staff | The Hinsdalean | Red Devil Nation | Non-Daily Division | Best Special Section |
| 3rd Place | Kathy Ade and Staff | Evanston Round Table, L.L.C. | Evanston Is…The Evanston RoundTable Magazine | Non-Daily Division | Best Special Section |
| 1st Place | Bill Dwyer | Suburban Chronicle | When rails ruled | Non-Daily Division | Best General Feature |
| 2nd Place | Katie Devereaux | Galena Gazette | Baking care of business | Non-Daily Division | Best General Feature |
| 3rd Place | Angela Sykora | Lake County Journal | Vet Continues PTSD Awareness | Non-Daily Division | Best General Feature |
| 1st Place | Victoria Scott | Evanston Round Table, L.L.C. | The Muellers Stage Business | Non-Daily Division | Best Personality Profile |
| 2nd Place | Pamela Lannom | The Hinsdalean | Leslie Goddard transcends her time | Non-Daily Division | Best Personality Profile |
| 3rd Place | Matt Simonette | Evanston Round Table, L.L.C. | Evanston Native Documents Her Families Escape from Nazi-occupied Europe | Non-Daily Division | Best Personality Profile |
| 1st Place | Pamela Lannom | The Hinsdalean | Keeping the focus on Christ at Christmastime | Non-Daily Division | BEST RELIGION STORY / OWEN PHELPS AWARD |
| 2nd Place | Pamela Lannom | The Hinsdalean | 60 seconds/Tracy Cefaratti | Non-Daily Division | BEST RELIGION STORY / OWEN PHELPS AWARD |
| 3rd Place | Lynne Conner | Winnebago Chronicle | Coping with grief | Non-Daily Division | BEST RELIGION STORY / OWEN PHELPS AWARD |
| 1st Place | Hillary Dickerson | Galena Gazette | Searching for answers | Non-Daily Division | BEST TECHNOLOGY/MEDICAL STORY |
| 2nd Place | Katie Devereaux | Galena Gazette | Addiction & Abuse | Non-Daily Division | BEST TECHNOLOGY/MEDICAL STORY |
| 3rd Place | Larry Gavin | Evanston Round Table, L.L.C. | Erie Family Health Center Helps Build Young Minds Through Reach Out and Read Program | Non-Daily Division | BEST TECHNOLOGY/MEDICAL STORY |
| 1st Place | Ken Knutson | The Hinsdalean | Central AD works to get his game on | Non-Daily Division | BEST SPORTS STORY |
| 2nd Place | Carter Newton | Galena Gazette | Hardwood homecoming | Non-Daily Division | BEST SPORTS STORY |
| 3rd Place | Jack McCarthy | Cook County Chronicle | Ex-umps share with next generation | Non-Daily Division | BEST SPORTS STORY |
| 1st Place | Dick Peach | Evanston Round Table, L.L.C. | Dick Peach Best Sports Columnist 11A | Non-Daily Division | BEST SPORTS COLUMNIST |
| 1st Place | Jim Slonoff | The Hinsdalean | Lightning strikes twice Sunday | Non-Daily Division | BEST SPOT NEWS PHOTO |
| 2nd Place | Jay Dickerson | Galena Gazette | Car hits wall | Non-Daily Division | BEST SPOT NEWS PHOTO |
| 3rd Place | Jim Slonoff | The Hinsdalean | How many chiefs does it take? | Non-Daily Division | BEST SPOT NEWS PHOTO |
| 1st Place | Hillary Dickerson | Galena Gazette | Perfect focus | Non-Daily Division | BEST FEATURE PHOTO |
| 2nd Place | Candace H. Johnson | Lake County Journal | Antioch Gets Artsy | Non-Daily Division | BEST FEATURE PHOTO |
| 3rd Place | Candace H. Johnson | Lake County Journal | Traveling Circus | Non-Daily Division | BEST FEATURE PHOTO |
| 1st Place | Mark Van Osdol | Galena Gazette | Stockton hands Galena early exit | Non-Daily Division | BEST SPORTS PHOTO |
| 2nd Place | Eric Miller | Ledger-Sentinel | A dramatic trip: wrestler celebrates downstate | Non-Daily Division | BEST SPORTS PHOTO |
| 3rd Place | Jim Slonoff | The Hinsdalean | End zone | Non-Daily Division | BEST SPORTS PHOTO |
| 1st Place | Katie Devereaux | Galena Gazette | Bat tests positive for rabies | Non-Daily Division | BEST IN-DEPTH NEWS STORY |
| 2nd Place | Dan Burke | Galena Gazette | What are you drinking? | Non-Daily Division | BEST IN-DEPTH NEWS STORY |
| 3rd Place | Kelley Elwood | Evanston Round Table, L.L.C. | Evanston is in the Midst of a Reading Crisis | Non-Daily Division | BEST IN-DEPTH NEWS STORY |
| 1st Place | Jean Lotus | Cook County Chronicle | Body-Parts Trade | Non-Daily Division | BEST NEWS STORY SERIES |
| 2nd Place | Pamela Lannom (lead), Ken Knutson | The Hinsdalean | HMS referendum coverage | Non-Daily Division | BEST NEWS STORY SERIES |
| 3rd Place | Hillary Dickerson | Galena Gazette | Galena schools: What isn’t working? | Non-Daily Division | BEST NEWS STORY SERIES |
| 1st Place | Ken Knutson | The Hinsdalean | Education reporting | Non-Daily Division | BEST EDUCATION REPORTING |
| 2nd Place | Pamela Lannom | The Hinsdalean | Education reporting | Non-Daily Division | BEST EDUCATION REPORTING |
| 3rd Place | Larry Gavin | Evanston Round Table, L.L.C. | Larry Gavin Best Education Reporting 23A | Non-Daily Division | BEST EDUCATION REPORTING |
| 1st Place | Hillary Dickerson | Galena Gazette | East Dubuque superintendent on leave | Non-Daily Division | BEST WATCHDOG REPORTING |
| 2nd Place | Barry Schrader | DeKalb County Life Online | Ongoing series on Kish Health System hospital secrecy, sale | Non-Daily Division | BEST WATCHDOG REPORTING |
| 3rd Place | Shawn Jones | Evanston Round Table, L.L.C. | Shawn Jones Best Watchdog Reporting 24A | Non-Daily Division | BEST WATCHDOG REPORTING |
| 1st Place | Staff | Galena Gazette | Galenian Fall/Winter 2015-16 | Non-Daily Division | BEST NICHE PUBLICATION |
Northern Illinois News Association 