The UIL and OAP groups made history this week, earning the UIL Academic Regional Championship for the first time in the school’s history.

“This is the first time for something like this to ever happen,” senior Nadia Garcia said. “I am glad I could be a part of this goal-making event.”

The point total for regionals is comprised of every individual that places first through sixth, teams that place first or second, and OAPs that advance or are named as state alternates, as well as individual acting award points.

“We always have students placing at regionals and advancing to state, and we’ve been close to the top before, but we’ve never won first,” UIL coordinator Melonie Menefee said. “Every student who placed individually, was on a top-two team, or was part of OAP helped to earn this. It took a team effort.”

Juniors Jose Sanchez, Tana Cleveland and Noah Rubel, sophomore Colby Menefee and senior Lilah Adams are all advancing to the state competitions in Austin next month.

“This is my first year to do Lincoln Douglas Debate,” Adams said. “I was very surprised to find that I had advanced to state, even though I have been practicing hard.”

Three of teams competing placed in the top two. The Number Sense team and journalism team both placed second. The speech team placed first overall. All three teams have practiced long and hard for this title. The Number Sense team was made up of Sanchez, Natalie Uptmor, Bailey Chase and Sonia Dominguez.

“We have practiced almost every day,” Sanchez said. “I am still amazed that we placed second.”

Several students placed in the fourth-sixth levels, helping to earn the regional title even though they are not advancing. Sonia Dominguez, Sheri Donaldson, Nadia Garcia and Bailey Chase all fell into this category; Lilah Adams and Colby Menefee did as well, although they also qualified in other events. 

“I was upset about not going to state because I thought I would have since I did last year,” junior Sheri Donaldson said. “I was proud of my teammates, but still disappointed in myself.”

The OAP group contributed as well, winning state alternate and four individual acting awards at their portion of the competition. Taylor Lack was awarded All Star Cast; Colby Menefee, Madison Rowan and Kaiden Loep were awarded Honorable Mention All Star Cast.

“We knew when we finished OAP competition that we had enough points to put us over the top,” UIL coordinator Melonie Menefee said. “We waited all day Tuesday for the point totals to be officially updated until we announced it, because we were afraid we’d missed something and hadn’t won.”

While the students have made history, those advancing are still hard at work for state. On May 4-5, Menefee will compete in Feature and Editorial writing contests, while Sanchez will compete in Number Sense. Students competing in speech events will compete the week after graduation.

“I am so excited to be able to compete at state,” Cleveland said. “This is my first year to go and I just can’t wait. I know there will be a lot of competition, but that’ll tell me how good I am.”