Three TCU student journalists have been honored as the first recipients of The Jay Milner Distinguished Student Journalism awards presented by the Schieffer School of Journalism for work published in 2011-2012.

Senior Lexy Cruz, editor-in-chief of the TCU 360 news website during the Spring 2012 semester, was selected editor of the year. Sophomore Bailey McGowan was honored as reporter of the year, and sophomore Ryan Osborne was recognized for producing the story of the year.

Cruz and McGowan, a reporter and also an associate editor for TCU 360, will each receive $1,000 awards, and Osborne, a “TCU Daily Skiff” sports editor and a TCU 360 associate editor in 2011-12, will receive $500. Judges for each of the Milner awards comprised TCU journalism faculty and news media professionals.

Cruz’ position this past year as associate editor and editor-in-chief of the news website dictated that she led the breaking news coverage in both TCU’s move from the Mountain West Conference to the Big 12 and that she managed the student publications’ coverage of the students arrested on drug charges early in the spring semester. Her leadership in the latter “showed significant maturity…and helped the TCU 360 site lead all Metroplex media in coverage of the arrests,” wrote one of the judges.

McGowan’s coverage of the drug arrests and an unrelated sexual assault story caught the eyes of the judges: “Her reporting seemed straightforward and solid, with good details. The drug bust story was a BIG one, with lots of pressure and scrutiny. She did a good job of handling such a high-profile, fast-breaking piece on deadline. Her contest entry showed a commitment to good reporting.”

Osborne was honored for his feature profile of Horned Frogs quarterback Casey Pachall, “Creating a Quarterback: The High School History of Casey Pachall,” that appeared in the fall 2011 issue of “Image” magazine.

“Ryan Osborne’s study of a young man stepping into the shoes of an experienced quarterback keeps the reader’s interest from its catching lead paragraph to the end, while throughout the story, his colorful phrasing and astute choice of words add a bit of welcome tension,” wrote one judge. “It’s no small thing that Jay Milner was a sports fan, one who had a hundred football stories he loved to tell… Jay would have liked knowing the story of Casey Pachall as much as I did."

The awards were established earlier this year through a gift from Gail Milner, the widow of Jay Milner, a former TCU journalism professor who died in December 2011 at age 88.

Milner gained prominence as a reporter in Mississippi who covered the Civil Rights movement as it emerged in the 1950s. Following the publication of his novel, “Incident at Ashton” in 1961, he returned to Texas following a stint at the editorial desk of the “New York Herald Tribune” and joined the circle of Texas writers who included Larry McMurtry, Larry L. King and Dan Jenkins. He also was influential in the outlaw music scene of the 1970s that flourished in Austin, Texas.

He was “probably at his best as a college journalism teacher,” noted former “Lufkin Daily News” publisher Joe Murray, for whom Milner later wrote newspaper columns. Gail Milner said it was a natural fit to establish the student awards in her late husband’s honor.

“TCU and Jay have made a lot of good impressions on a lot of kids,” she said. “I think Jay would be thrilled and amazed at what we’re doing.”