The UIL Academic team brought home the Sweepstakes title from the Bulldog Winter Academic Meet on Saturday, Jan. 23 after winning many team and individual first place medals.

“I’m so proud of everyone who competed,” junior Bailey Noah said. “I felt like waking up at 5:45 on a Saturday was well worth it.”

The Journalism team brought home the first place plaque in the large school division, which was a first for LCM. Noah placed second in News Writing, fifth in Feature Writing, and fifth in Headline Writing. Also, senior Andrea Steward earned the first place medal in Headline Writing, junior Valen Elliott placed first in Feature Writing, and Junior Autumn Rendall placed fourth in Editorial Writing.

“Saturday was such a great day for my Journalism team, not only because they won the first place team plaque, but because they were able to grow as writers by competing against other schools that are not in our district,” teacher Lindsey Fruge said.

The Prose and Poetry team had five out of their six readers advance to finals. In Poetry, junior Connor Alexander placed first and sophomore Meg Clark finished in fifth place. In Prose, junior Tyler Regan placed first, freshman Eli Ridout placed fourth, and freshman Maggie Pigg got fifth place.

“The team, although very young with only two juniors, two sophomores and three freshman, is extremely talented,” theater director Cory Broom said. “Freshman readers reaching finals against seniors from other schools is a huge feat in and of itself. It shows that these hard working youngsters have a promising future. I think my older kids have also done a great job of showing the younger ones the ropes and they truly are a little family that supports and encourages one another.”

Broom said even though his students usually dominate local competitions, the team had a rocky start at the Hamshire Fannett meet earlier this month, with only two readers advancing to Finals.

“I think that inspired the team to work harder and they reached the top again at this meet,” he said.

The Computer Science team took home first, second, and third medals, making them the first place team overall. Senior John Comeaux won first place, junior Thomas King got second, and junior Matthew Cox placed third.

“I did what I went there to do, which is great,” King said.

According to Computer Science sponsor Terry Morris, the students have worked hard and have been practicing as much as possible, even during the summer. Last semester, the team competed in three other competitions in Houston against the 6A schools to get in some extra practice.

“That was humbling, but we saw what was possible,” Morris said. “Hopefully we can get back to state. If we don’t, it won’t be from lack of effort. It was fun to watch them walking around with all of their medals. Especially Thomas who had seven first place medals between team and individual. He sounded like a reindeer with bells on when he walked by.”

The Number Sense team placed first overall, with  King placing first individually. The rest of the team consists of Drake Trawhon, Devin Fenner and Mitchell Lee. The Mathematics team also brought home first place, with King bringing home the gold in that, as well.

“I can’t say enough about my two team captains, John Comeaux in Computer Science and Thomas King in Mathematics,” Morris said. “They are amazing and have worked really hard to get where they are. I would also like to give a lot of credit to Ricky Ryan. Without him we would not be anywhere near where we are in the mathematics competitions. Thankfully he has been there to answer Thomas’ crazy math questions.”

The academic team’s next competition will be on Feb. 13 at Port Neches-Groves and the teams hope to bring back the same results.

“My entire team is very competitive and they all have the drive and desire to succeed this year,” Fruge said. “I can’t wait to see what great things are in store for the rest of the season.”