AHS junior medals in 2 events
Albany junior Addison Asher medaled in two journalism events at the state UIL academic meet last Friday after qualifying for the state level in three events.
Asher brought home a silver medal for news writing, as well as a fourth place in feature writing. She also competed in headline writing. This was her first trip to the state meet.
“It was amazing that Addi qualified in three events, but to then medal was fantastic,” said journalism sponsor Donnie Lucas. “She worked hard preparing for state, and it paid off.”
He added that Asher has also set a goal to go back to Austin next year for a gold medal.
The AHS junior said that she has been involved in UIL academics since she was a freshman, and when she got fifth place at regional last year, she realized how close she was to earning a state spot.
“I am very excited that Addison placed in two of her three events,” commented local UIL coordinator Rick Davis. “She is a talented young lady, and I am looking forward to seeing what she can do next year. I just hope that she will not be the only Albany Lion at Austin in 2020.”
Austin Events
Asher led off with feature writing at 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning, followed by news writing at 12:15 p.m. and headline writing at 1:30 p.m.
“The morning we were leaving for Austin I actually cried because I was so worried I would disappoint Mr. Lucas, my family, and my friends,” said Asher. “My family was coming to watch the awards ceremony, so I was super worried that they would come to watch nothing happen. Luckily, I had them all telling me not to worry and focus on the fact that everyone was happy that I was competing, not whether I placed or not.”
The Lions Roar editor almost didn’t have the opportunity to compete in news writing this year.
“Mr. Lucas almost took me out of that event for district, but thankfully he showed me what I was doing wrong on my leads,” she said. “I made sure to fix it, and he put me back in.”
Asher had learned earlier in the day that she was fourth in feature writing, but didn’t know the results of the news writing event until the awards ceremony on Friday night.
“I didn’t expect be in the top three,” she said. “Everyone else acted like they did amazing, and they all seemed so calm.”
Once the sixth and then fifth places had been presented, Asher was sure her name wouldn’t be called. When it was, she forgot all about the misspelled word in her feature lead and that she might have included a run-on sentence in her news story.
“Addi stresses a lot but she works hard, and I definitely think she has the potential to be back in Austin next year,” said Lucas.
