The UIL Academic season has officially begun as the team brought home the Sweepstakes title from the Nederland Practice Academic Meet on Saturday, Jan. 28 and also earned many team and individual medals. 

The journalism team took home the first place title in the small school division. Senior Autumn Rendall placed fifth in headline writing and third in editorial writing. Junior Alora Jones placed second in editorial writing. Senior Valen Elliott placed second in news writing. Lastly, senior Bailey Noah placed fourth in feature writing, second in headline writing, and first place in news writing. This is the second meet this year in which the team has earned first place.

“I enjoy being able to compete individually with the best of writers in our area,” Noah said. “It allows me to see my weak points in my writing and fix them the next time around. Having 45 minutes of pure silence and creativity is the best brain therapy for me. Without UIL, I doubt I would have that kind of willpower to do that on my own.”

The Computer Science team placed first overall. Sophomore Dajhuan Myles placed sixth, senior Chris Cook placed fifth, sophomore Nick Muggleston placed third, senior Tyler Wolfford placed second, and senior Thomas King finished in first place. 

“My hopes for UIL are for the number sense, mathematics, and computer science teams to be able to advance to state,” Cook said.

The mathematics team placed first overall, while also taking up four of the top six spots. Senior Sydney Smith placed fifth, Cook placed fourth, junior Chandler Barr placed third, and King again took the top spot.

“I love the competitiveness between us,” Smith said. “It’s fun when Thomas messes up and we can all joke about it.”

In other math events, King placed fourth in calculator. In number sense, senior Cody Girouard placed sixth, Cook placed fourth, Barr placed third, and King placed first. The number sense team altogether took home the first place spot.

“To win it takes weeks and weeks and weeks of practice,” King said. “I average at around six medals per meet.”

The academic team had numerous individual placements. Barr placed second in science and was the top chemistry test-taker. In persuasive speaking, freshman Kierra Figgins placed fourth, while sophomore Akhil Tejani placed first in informative speaking. In CX Debate, Akhil and Aman Tejani were the first place duo. In ready writing, Jones placed sixth. Jones said she gets more out of UIL writing than just the medals.

“UIL is a way to expand your mind and creativity, while also connecting with other schools on an intellectual level,” Jones said.

The academic team’s next competition will be on Feb. 11 at Port Neches-Groves High School. The students hope to be successful and get more practice in preparation for the District meet in March.

“The thing I like most about UIL is not the accomplishments it brings, but the work ethic that one can gain from it,” Cook said.