Nacogdoches High School swept to a district title in UIL academic competition, its first overall championship in years. NHS earned the overall school sweepstakes with 537.5 points. Competitions that are part of the district contest are speech and debate, academic and one-act play.
Several NHS students are advancing on to regional competition, and the school’s CX Debate (cross examination) team has earned a berth in the state competition.
District academic results from NHS:
● CX Debate – 2nd place, Whitley Howell, David Taravella (advancing to state); 3rd place, JaBrandon Chatman and Jean Choi; 5th place, Caleb Johnson and Liam Rahman.
● Calculator Applications – 3rd place, Jordan Rankin (advancing to regionals); 4th place, Nicholas Bacarisse (2nd place, team).
● Computer Applications – 4th place, Yzabella Miranda; 5th place, Sarahi Godinez-Peralta; 6th place, Grace McKinney.
● Computer Science – 2nd place, Nicholas Bacarisse (advancing to regionals).
● Copy Editing – 5th place, Mark Sifuentes.
● Current Issues and Events – 3rd place, Justin Phillips (advancing to regionals); 4th place, Vivyan Nieberding; 5th place, Mel Chandler-Ezell (1st place, team – advancing to regionals)
● Editorial – 2nd place, Elia Leon (advancing to regionals); 3rd place, Mark Sifuentes (advancing to regionals)
● Feature – 6th place, Olivia Stange.
● Headline – 1st place, Rees Runnels (advancing to regionals); 2nd place, Mark Sifuentes (advancing to regionals); 3rd place, DeLayna Adams (advancing to regionals).
● Literary Criticism – 1st place, Noah Satir (advancing to regionals); 2nd place, Jessica Moreno (advancing to regionals); 3rd place, Vivyan Nieberding (advancing to regionals); 4th place, Kailey Busby; 6th place, Samantha Billig (1st place, team – advancing to regionals).
● Mathematics – 1st place, Nixon Long (advancing to regionals); 5th place, Nicholas Bacarisse (1st place, team – advancing to regionals).
● News – 3rd place, Mark Sifuentes (advancing to regionals); 5th place, Grace Hao; 6th place, Olivia Stange.
● Number Sense – 2nd place, Nixon Long (advancing to regionals); 3rd place, Julian Pruit (advancing to regionals); 5th place, Nicholas Bacarisse (2nd place, team).
● Ready Writing – 4th place, Samantha Billig.
● Science – 3rd place, Nixon Long (advancing to regionals); 5th place, Nicholas Bacarisse; 6th place, Vivyan Nieberding.
● Social Studies – 2nd place, Mel Chandler-Ezell (advancing to regionals) (2nd place, team).
● Spelling – 5th place, Gezle Uson (2nd place, journalism team).
● Informative Speaking – 2nd place, Caleb Johnson (advancing to regionals); 3rd place, Justin Phillips (advancing to regionals).
● Lincoln Douglas Debate – 3rd place, Vivyan Nieberding (advancing to regionals).
● Persuasive Speaking – 1st place, Jean Choi (advancing to regionals); 2nd place, Ja’Brandon Chatman (advancing to regionals).
● Prose Interpretation – 1st place, Uriel Morales (advancing to regionals); 2nd place, Ja’Brandon Chatman (advancing to regionals) (1st place, Speech Team).
● One-Act Play put on a production of “The Caucasian Chalk Circle” and advanced to bi-district. Cast and crew include, Riley Hall, Kyler Bowman, Jacob Norman, Brianna Hightower, Ren Cates; Freja Lorensen, Rees Runnels, Mars McIntosh, Nico Gotcher, Charlotte Bradford, Samantha Billig, William Vermeulen and Maite Cano.
Speech and Debate coaches and students: (from left) Kristin Thomas, JaBrandon Chatman, Jean Choi, Justin Phillips, DeLayna Adams, Veronica York, Caleb Johnson, David Taravella, Vivyan Nieberding, Alec Watson, Anna Gutierrez, Sydney Gotcher and Jhanay Henry.
UIL Academic coaches and students—(from left) Kristin Thomas, Rebecca Jaramillo, Nicholas Bacarisse, Becky Martin, Griffin Bataineh, James Teekell, Mark Sifuentes, Grace Hao, Matthew Dossett, Mel Chandler-Ezell, Taylor Hart, Gezle Uson, Olivia Stange, Jordin Busby, DeLayna Adams, Kailey Busby, Samantha Billig, Nayeli Carrillo, Justin Phillips, Jessica Moreno, Rees Runnels, Charlie Hodge, Elia Leon, Elyse Meyer, Grace McKinney, Harry Duncan, Vivyan Nieberding, Noah Satir, Jordan Rankin, Dawn Pierce and Jody Franks.
One-Act Play students and directors
Back row, from left – Mars McIntosh, Samantha Billig, Renee Cates, Freja Lorenson, Jacob Norman and William Vermeulen.
Middle row, from left – Rees Runnells, Grayson Rhoden, Kylar Bowden, Nelly Gotcher, Charlotte Bradford, Head Director Victoria Perry, Riley Hall, Maite Canto and Brianna Hightower.
Front row, from left – Tech Director Amanda Abbott and Assistant Director Megan Jenkins.