Newsday staffers J. Conrad Williams, left, and Jim Baumbach were...

Newsday staffers J. Conrad Williams, left, and Jim Baumbach were honored with awards at The Society of The Silurians Awards Dinner on Wednesday, May 18, 2016, in Manhattan. Credit: John Keating

“Hard Knocks,” Newsday’s in-depth look at football helmet safety, received a Medallion Award at the Society of the Silurians Excellence in Journalism Awards banquet held Wednesday night.

Judges praised “Hard Knocks,” by sports reporter Jim Baumbach, as a “model of investigative and public-service reporting.”

Newsday also won Medallion Awards in two photography categories.

Thomas A. Ferrara won the feature photography award for “Dunia’s Smile” — a portrait of a child undergoing facial reconstructive surgery.

J. Conrad Williams Jr. won the sports photography prize for “American Pharoah,” which captured the racehorse’s triumph at the Belmont Stakes to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978.

The awards, presented at the Players Club in Manhattan, honor outstanding reporting, writing, broadcasting and commentary in New York City and the tristate region.

Founded in 1924, the Society of the Silurians is an organization of distinguished veteran New York-area journalists.

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