WBEZ staff won three national awards from the Public Media Journalists Association for work on a high-profile Chicago political scandal, the city’s 1919 race riots and the last season of a college gymnastics team.

The PMJA honors the best work from public radio stations around the country.

WBEZ was recognized with a first-place award for short documentary for the audio docudrama, City On Fire, a play about the city’s 1919 race riots. It was written by WBEZ’s Natalie Moore and Jeremy McCarter of the Make-Believe Association. Mikhail Fiksel was the composer, and the documentary was edited by WBEZ’s Cate Cahan.

The staff also received first place for breaking news about the investigation and charges of Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, 14th Ward, by Dan Mihalopoulos, Becky Vevea and Claudia Morell, with editing by Alex Keefe.

Reporter Kate McGee and editor Kate Grossman were honored with second place for a sports feature, A Final Act For UIC Gymnasts, about the University of Illinois at Chicago women’s gymnastics team’s final season.