Former MacJournalism photographer Adrian Peña captured first place for his senior photo portfolio in the 36th Annual High School Shoot-out contest sponsored by the Third Floor Photographic Society at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Peña won first place for a portfolio of images of sports reaction pictures from the 2016 football season. One image is of linebacker Ben Davis screaming on the sidelines before the 2016 Taco Shack Bowl. Another image shows then defensive coordinator Thomas Gammerdinger getting a victory shower after the game. The third image shows linebacker Jack Switzer, running back Alexander Julian and defensive end Kevon Walton celebrating just after the clock ran out on McCallum’s 31-24 road victory over Seguin at Matador Stadium.

The contest elicited 783 single-image entries and 20 junior/senior portfolios entries from 18 high schools. The proceeds from the contest fund the Third Floor Photo Society Scholarship. As the only first-place portfolio winner in the competition, Peña is eligible to receive a $1,000 scholarship should he decide to attend TAMU-Commerce as a photography major.

While Peña was the grand-prize winner, he was joined by four other McCallum photojournalists who also won awards in the annual competition.

Senior Madison Olsen won two honorable mention awards, including one for her three-image portfolio and one in the documentary/photojournalism category.

Senior Julie Robertson captured third place in the architecture/cityscape category, and sophomore Kathryn Chilstrom captured third place in the documentary/photojournalism category.

Freshman Zoe Hutchens earned honorable mention in the cell/smartphone photography category.

Olsen, Robertson, Chilstrom and Hutchens are eligible for a $500 scholarship if they major in photography at TAMU-Commerce.