Here at GetReligion, we've been big fans of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's exceptional religion writers.

So we weren't surprised to see former Post-Gazette Godbeat specialist Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh's longtime "queen of religion news," and her successor, Peter Smith, take top honors in the Religion Newswriters Association's annual writing awards. 

Winners were announced Saturday night at #RNA2014 — RNA's annual meeting — in the Atlanta area. (See our 5Q+1 interview with RNA President Bob Smietana and our post on the conference's "God and Guns" panel.)

For GetReligion readers, a number of other names on the award list will be familiar, too.

Religion News Service's David Gibson — known for his analysis pieces — won first place in the Religion Reporter of the Year category for large newspapers and wire services.

Time magazine's Elizabeth Dias earned first place in the Supple Religion Feature Writer of the Year contest for work that included a cover story on "The Latino Reformation." Her winning entry includes the full, 3,500-word story on Hispanic evangelicals, which was hidden behind a paywall when it was originally published.

Other winners' names may not be as familiar, but their excellent religion journalism is also worth checking out. 

And by all means, be sure to read about the lifetime achievement award winner, Roy Larson of Chicago Sun-Times and Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism fame.