It was quite a two-day stay in the state capital for Nacogdoches High School’s Academic UIL team. Four state qualifiers brought home four medals, two state championships, and a Top Score in Texas.
All four Academic UIL state qualifiers medaled this week in Austin. Heidi Nicholas and Mark Sifuentes are Class 5A champions, while Nicholas took things even further, posting the top score across all classifications, including Class 6A, in Feature Writing.
Sifuentes won the News Writing title, and Nacogdoches High School finished second overall in the Journalism contest team standings.
Justin Phillips finished fourth overall in Current Issues and Events. Phillips has medaled in consecutive years after winning the Current Issues state title in 2024. Ja’Brandon Chatman was sixth overall in Prose Interpretation.
The four qualifiers – all members of the Class of 2025 – were coached by NHS teachers Kristin Thomas, Veronica York, Elyse Meyer and Rebecca Jaramillo.
NHS finished 17th in the final team standings in the overall school sweepstakes.
The Class 5A Academic UIL events were held at the University of Texas in Austin on Monday and Tuesday.