The Lawrence Journal-World on Thursday won 13 Suburban Newspapers of America Awards for 2009, the most in the country for the fifth consecutive year.

The Journal-World won five first-place, four second-place, two third-place awards and two honorable mentions.

First-place honors were:

• Best Headline: “Toddlers Get the Point: Gesturing Helps Develop Vocabulary” by Katie Kritikos.

• Best Sports Section.

• Best In-depth Reporting, “Crash: Traffic Accidents in Lawrence” by Shaun Hittle and Brianne Pfannenstiel.

• Best Young People’s Coverage for Go!

• Best Niche Product, Go!

Second-place awards:

• Best Editorial Writing, “Texas Tantrum”, “Tuition Retaliation”, “Painful Choice” by Ann Gardner.

• Best Feature Photo, “Moon Rock,” by Mike Yoder.

• Best Feature, “Finally Justice was Served,” by Christine Metz.

• Best Non-Page One Layout.

Third-place awards:

• Best Sports Writing, “Level Playing Field,” by Matt Tait.

• Best Coverage of Aging Issues/Senior Citizen Lifestyles, “Family Embarks on Caregiving Journey,” by Karrey Britt.

The Journal-World was named SNA’s Newspaper of the Year in its circulation category in 2009, 2007 and 2005, and placed second in 2006.

SNA is composed of more than 2,000 newspapers across North America.