Albany junior qualifies for 3 state contests

Albany High School junior Addison Asher will advance in three events to the University Interscholastic League state academic meet to be held at the University of Texas Campus in Austin on Friday, May 3.

Asher and senior Caroline Masters were the only Albany High School students who placed at the regional level competition held in Odessa last weekend.

The state qualifier earned a first place in headline writing, and was third in both news writing and feature writing.

Masters took fifth in science and is the alternate for top biology score, shifting her mind-set after first competing in prose interpretation. 

“Based on Addison’s results, our journalism team finished as second runner-up,” said UIL coordinator Rick Davis.

Only the top three individuals and the first place team members in each event at regional are eligible to move on,

“I am proud of all our kids,” said Davis. “We didn’t have a lot who placed at regional, but they represented Albany well.”

Journalism sponsor Donnie Lucas also praised local competitors.

“I’m really proud of Addi, of course, for qualifying in three events,” he said. “There have been several times when Albany students have advanced to state in three and maybe even four events the same year, but I can’t remember when I’ve had a qualifier in three journalism events.”

The AHS journalism team also included Alayna Koemel, Tana Thompson, and Hannah Trail.

“The other three were disappointed that they didn’t place, but the regional contests are always tough, and journalism events are totally subjective and dependent on the judges,” Lucas said. “We have a strong bunch of young writers who will hopefully all be back next year. We’ll just keep working.”

Other local students who competed at the regional level were Sidney Bartee, Braden Davis, Morgan Garcia, and Christopher Rivera.