The winners of the 2011 Lowell Thomas travel journalism awards have been announced, and our hometown newspaper didn’t do too badly. The Los Angeles Times won top honors in the Newspaper Travel Section category, large circulation. Editor Catharine Hamm has been with the section for 12 years this month, and last year won 2nd place for Travel Journalist of the Year.

The LA Times also won both 1st and 2nd place in the Special Package/Project category.

The OC Register won 2nd place in the Personal Comment category for Gary Warner‘s “Stepping Behind Enemy lines at a Tiny Japanese Bar.” The paper also placed 3rd in the Newspaper Travel Section category for circulations under 350,000.

Former teen actor Andrew McCarthy took 2nd place as the Travel Journalist of the Year, a prize he won in 2010.

View a complete list of winners at the Lowell Thomas website.