Clint Samples politely refused Allison Bennett’s request to join a group photograph on Thursday, hoping not to take any of the spotlight for himself.

At The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race on Sunday, Bennett — one of Samples’ students — was named winner of the annual T-shirt design contest.

This time, the West Georgia art professor couldn’t hide his excitement.

“I feel like a proud parent,” said Samples, who incorporated the logo contest into a class project in January. “It’s been better than I’ve ever imagined.”

Bennett’s entry, one of four designs from Samples’ Digital Media for Artists course that got to the final stage of voting, featured a hand-designed peach behind the Atlanta skyline.

Bennett, a medical illustration major and rising senior from Augusta, was hoping for a more artistic looking design when she started the project. After five rounds of peer critiques and work with pastels and colored pencils, she ended up with the eventual winner. Now she has the $1,000 grand prize.

Three of her West Georgia classmates and fellow finalists, Elizabeth Bounds, Jessica Gergetz and Hannah Kelley, each received $100 rewards.

“It was great. I had so much fun,” Bennett said. “It was very exciting. I got to meet a lot of people, some of the top runners, so it was really fun to be at the race too.”

Bennett’s design was featured on roughly 55,000 T-shirts distributed on Sunday, and is now a permanent part of the event’s history.

Samples said he will continue the project next January.

“This is what we envisioned it as,” Samples said. “I never had a doubt that a student could do well with this project. If you critique correctly, if the students are open to constructive criticism and open to listening to feedback, there’s no reason at all why a student can’t win this. It’s just been a win-win situation all the way around.”