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On the list of things I never expected to do on a Monday afternoon, pouring Champagne for Pulitzer Prize winners is probably pretty high.

That was my small contribution to the impromptu festivities that broke out in The Salt Lake Tribune's newsroom when the announcement came that my colleagues' work writing about sexual assault on Utah's college campuses had won journalism's highest honor.

If a Vegas oddsmaker had been in The Tribune newsroom Monday morning, he would have found fairly even betting on our paper winning or not winning a Pulitzer. Some were quietly expecting it, knowing the quality of the work and its success in other precursor awards. Others were more pessimistic, seeing the Pulitzers as something reserved for bigger, resource-rich papers, like The New York Times.

Some Pulitzer winners seemed predestined. The Washington Post's David Farenthold had a Pulitzer locked up the second he hit "send" on his deep dig into Donald Trump's charitable donations.

So it was with an odd mix of hope and resignation that Tribune staffers awaited Monday's announcement.

Several of us had plugged into the livestream from Columbia University. But we weren't all in sync, so some of us heard prize administrator Mike Pride utter the words "The Salt Lake Tribune" before others. As a result, a tidal wave of gasps and excited shouting rolled up the newsroom, crashing at the corner where Managing Editor Sheila R. McCann emerged, smiling through tears.

Not everybody registered the news immediately. I stood from my computer and saw in the adjacent cubicle my colleague Erin Alberty — one of the project's lead reporters — looking a bit confused.

"What's happening?" Alberty asked. I got to be the one to say, "Erin, you just won the Pulitzer."

Alberty joined in on the hugfest in front of McCann's office, which included reporter Alex Stuckey and digital editor Rachel Piper (who contributed as both a writer and an editor for our coverage). Then Matt Canham, our senior managing editor, came bounding up the newsroom, two bottles of sparkling wine in one hand, two bottles of Martinelli's sparkling apple juice in the other, and a sheath of plastic cups in his back pocket.

The celebration moved over to one of our conference rooms, and somebody handed me a wine bottle. So I started opening bottles, pouring the contents into the cups and hoping everyone would get a taste.

Meanwhile, Alberty called Jessica Miller, the fourth reporter on the lead team, who was at the courthouse covering another trial. She was urged to head back to the newsroom to join the celebration.

Eventually, these five journalists — Alberty, Miller, Stuckey, Piper and McCann — were the center of attention, fielding congratulatory calls from Editor Jennifer Napier-Pearce (who was back East touring college campuses with her son), Publisher Paul Huntsman and others. Journalists sent emails of congratulations. Mayor Jackie Biskupski's office sent cookies.

The five deflected the applause. They cited the other Tribune staffers who also worked on the project: photographers Leah Hogsten, Chris Detrick and Francisco Kjolseth; reporters Peggy Fletcher Stack, Matthew Piper, Nate Carlisle and Benjamin Wood.

They gave credit to Napier-Pearce and her predecessor, Terry Orme, for supporting news reporting that cast harsh light on three of Utah's more beloved institutions: Brigham Young University; its owner, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and Utah State University Aggie football.

And they praised the courage of Madi Barney and the other young women and men who went public with their stories of being assaulted and then being further victimized by those investigating the crimes.

The celebrating continued in the evening at a downtown bar, where food and drink were consumed heartily. One staffer ordered a round of shots of Jameson Irish Whiskey with a pickle-brine chaser — which (who knew?) is an invigorating way to down a drink. A waitress told us that a regular had ordered a round for all of us, and we happily accepted.

During one toast, the word "badass" was floated to describe the five journalists who have shepherded our coverage for the past year. I can't think of a more accurate word, and here's why: While we were celebrating, they talked about where the story is going next — court cases still in motion, documents still being sought, victims still waiting to be heard.

For my badass colleagues at The Salt Lake Tribune, the Pulitzer isn't the end product of a year's worth of diligent, important work. It's a sign of encouragement, a prod to keep going.

Sean P. Means writes The Cricket in daily blog form at http://www.sltrib.com/blogs/moviecricket. Follow him on Twitter @moviecricket. Email him at spmeans@sltrib.com.