Saltillo High School UIL won first place honors at the District Academic UIL Contest in Union Hill. At least 14 students are advancing individually, along with four teams, to the Regional Academic UIL Contest this weekend at Keller Central High School.
Also notable is the fact that at least seven students placed in more than one event each at the March 29 contest, and at least four scored high enough individually to advance in more than one event as well.
Students earning the top three places individually in each category at the district meet qualified to advance to the regional contest. However, only teams placing first at district competition advance as group to region, unless the top team is unable to go. That is the case for the second place Saltillo literary criticism team.
Individually, Sienna Collins won second place honors and Hannah Wartenbee third place honors at district, qualifying each to advance individually. Their scores only earned a second place overall team rating. However, because the first place team will be unable to go, as the next in ranking, the Saltillo literary criticism team now has the opportunity to advance, according to Saltillo UIL coach Johnna West.
The first place accounting team consisted of Christy Marqueez, Brianna Tawil and Jocelyn Ochoa. Individually, Marquez won top honors, Tawil second and Ochoa third, advancing all three individually and as a group to region.
The first place spelling and vocabulary team consisted of Garrett Tarver, Lorena Castro, Lindsay Butler and Reagan Speir. Individually, Tarver won first place honors, Castro third, and Butler fifth.
The journalism team also won first place honors at district based on the composite of their scores in several journalism events.
In editorial writing, Garrett Tarver earned first place honors, Cheyenne Neal second place honors and Chandler Bain was recognized for placing sixth.
In feature writing, Cheyenne Neal won second place honors and Chandler Bain won third place honors, while Graycie Hodges placed sixth.
Maddie Smith won first place honors and Chris Boekhorst third place honors in headline writing.
The Saltillo team shut the competition out of the top three slots in news writing: Paisley Kastner won first, Maddy Smith second and Anna Reeder third place honors. Reeder also was recognized for placing fifth in calculator applications at district.
Matthew Gurley won first place honors and Edi Olayo finished fifth in copy editing. Gurley was also recognized for his third place win in current issues competition.
Saltillo students also did well in ready writing: Garrett Tarver went home with first and Maddy Smith third place honors, and Graycie Hodges placed fourth.
Also recognized for their sixth place finishes at the district contest were Ofelia Cabrera in persuasive speaking and Bianca Castro in social studies.
