Evanston Township wins IHSA title as state journalism tournament celebrates 10th year

CHARLESTON — Out of a field of 75 schools and 335 student competitors, Evanston Township High School won the IHSA state championship in journalism Friday at Eastern Illinois University.

Fremd High of Palatine took home the runner-up trophy, edging third-place finisher Hinsdale South of Darien.

Evanston Township earned 28 points by winning top honors in advertising (Rena Newman), newspaper design (Ivy Hettinger) and yearbook theme development (Ariel Hasak-Lowy and Ella Lambert), as well as second place in editorial cartooning (Newman), third in sports writing (Adele Gruner), and sixth in yearbook caption writing (Lauren English).

At the state finals a year ago, the Wildkits finished second to Downers Grove North. Rodney Lowe is the Evanston Township adviser.

The individual winners this year included 2015 Illinois Journalist of the Year Ashley Yong. The Hinsdale South senior won the state title in Yearbook Layout: Double-Page Spread.

This year marked the 10th anniversary of the state journalism tournament, which debuted in 2005-6 after the Illinois Journalism Education Association worked closely with the IHSA to establish an onsite competition that would both challenge and showcase the skills of high school journalists.

Eastern Illinois University and its journalism department hosted this year’s final, continuing a tradition that goes back to the start of the series.

Congratulations to everyone who participated Friday, and we look forward to seeing even more schools and students at next year’s competition!

Here are the top 10 schools in the 2015 team sweepstakes, followed by a list of all students who earned points in Friday’s 17 individual events. The results can also be found at Speechwire, where they were originally posted.

A note on scoring — In each of the individual events, students win 6 points for first place, 5 for second, 4 for third, 3 for fourth, 2 for fifth, 1 for six. In general, 21 finalists compete in each state event (three finalists apiece from seven sectionals per event).

Team Sweepstakes Results
1. Evanston Township High School (Cook County) 28 — Rodney Lowe, adviser
2. William Fremd High School (Palatine, Cook County) 25 — Grant Dawson, adviser
3. Hinsdale South High School (Darien, DuPage County) 24 — Katie Aquino, Jim Kelly, Elizabeth Newman, advisers
4. Huntley High School (McHenry County) 20 — Dennis Brown, adviser
5. (tie) Taylorville High School (Christian County) 17 — Steve Steele, adviser
5. (tie) Palatine High School (Cook County) 17 — Sean Berleman, adviser
5. (tie) Edwardsville High School (Madison County) 17 — Amanda Thrun, adviser
8. Naperville North High School (Naperville, DuPage County) 16 — Tara Jewell, Kristina Mazzafero, advisers
9. Downers Grove North High School (Downers Grove, DuPage County) 15 — Elizabeth Levin, adviser
10. Glenbrook South High School (Glenview, Cook County) 14 — Brenda Field, Marshall Harris, advisers

Advertising
1. Rena Newman (Evanston Township)
2. Paige Powell (Palatine)
3. Claire Kozik (Downers Grove North)
4. Leah George (Naperville Central High School, Naperville, DuPage County)
5. Carina Ludwig (Galena High School, Jo Daviess County)
6. Chelsea Lindsey (Thornton Fractional South High School, Lansing, Cook County)

Broadcast News
1. Emma Davies (Fremd)
2. Katie Ervin (Mattoon High School, Coles County)
3. Lauren Velasco (Grayslake North High School, Grayslake, Lake County)
4. Sheila Angus (Minooka Community High School, Grundy County)
5. Jessica Parsons (Taylorville)
6. Beth Clifford (Prospect High School, Mount Prospect, Cook County)

Copy Editing
1. David Forner (Hinsdale South)
2. Kathryn Jenkins (Naperville North)
3. Connor Reitz (Coulterville High School, Randolph County)
4. Cristina Rivera-Bosques (Edwardsville)
5. Rebecca Johnson (Washington Community High School, Tazewell County)
6. Steve Forsythe (Reavis High School, Burbank, Cook County)

Editorial Cartooning
1. Jonathon Gottschalk (South Elgin High School, Kane County)
2. Rena Newman (Evanston Township)
3. Claire Ma (Hinsdale South)
4. Natalia Marra (Downers Grove North)
5. Fiona Agapito (Oak Lawn Community High School, Cook County)
6. Caitlin Strozewski (John Hersey High School, Arlington Heights, Cook County)

Editorial Writing
1. Maddy Moffett (Huntley)
2. Jenna Chin (Fremd)
3. Kelly McKewin (Wheeling High School, Cook County)
4. Matt Hickey (Marist High School, Chicago, Cook County)
5. Dylan Tomlins (Richwoods High School, Peoria, Peoria County)
6. Alice Hu (University of Illinois Laboratory High School, Urbana, Champaign County)

Feature Photography
1. Sameera Siddiqi (Hinsdale South)
2. Lauren Miller (Prospect)
3. Shawn Semmler (Edwardsville)
4. Jacob Wagner (Mattoon)
5. Elizabeth Geistlinger (University-Urbana)
6. Patrick Scherer (New Trier High School, Winnetka, Cook County)

Feature Writing
1. Maya Fenter (Naperville Central)
2. Abbie Hensley (Edwardsville)
3. Rachel Krusenoski (Downers Grove North)
4. Clare Gilligan (Marist)
5. Mary Ann Tharian (Hinsdale South)
6. Grace McKee (Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School, Chicago, Cook County)

Headline Writing
1. James Wendt (Naperville North)
2. Megan Provost (Wheeling)
3. Christin Watkins (Mattoon)
4. Sara Guagliardo (Downers Grove South High School, Downers Grove, DuPage County)
5. Shannon Gilkey (Kaneland High School, Maple Park, Kane County)
6. Madeline Mathie (Barrington High School, Lake County)

Info Graphics
1. Eleni Trapp (Glenbrook South)
2. Mike Maticka (Joliet West High School, Joliet, Will County)
3. Carlos Gallegos (Oswego East High School, Oswego, Kendall County)
4. Andrew Rosenthal (Grayslake Central High School, Grayslake, Lake County)
5. Bethany Black (LaSalle-Peru Township High School, LaSalle, LaSalle County)
6. Emma Gattuso (Fremd)

News Writing
1. Laura Plata (Palatine)
2. Khrystyna Stetsiv (William Howard Taft High School, Chicago, Cook County)
3. Devin Kane (Edwardsville)
4. Sharon Pan (Naperville Central)
5. Jessica Borman (Alton High School, Madison County)
6. Winston Lindqwister (Richwoods)

Newspaper Design
1. Ivy Hettinger (Evanston Township)
2. Adam Bieda (Fremd)
3. Marie Coovert (Washington)
4. Abigail Murphy (Downers Grove North)
5. Connor Sinclair (Grayslake North)
6. Emily Ash (Edwardsville)

Review Writing
1. Tess O’Brien (Palatine)
2. James Wendt (Naperville North)
3. Noah Larson (University-Urbana)
4. Brian Boyle (Hersey)
5. Michael Wu (Fremd)
6. Nicole Williams (Downers Grove North)

Sports Writing
1. Matthew Nicholson (Fremd)
2. Sarah Lee (University-Urbana)
3. Adele Gruner (Evanston Township)
4. Molly Mueller (Prospect)
5. Adam Reckamp (Huntley)
6. Briar Napier (Chrisman High School, Edgar County)

Yearbook Caption Writing
1. Riley Barker (Taylorville)
2. Caroline Bodnya (Glenbrook South)
3. Courtney Thomas (Huntley)
4. Kaitlyn Morrill (Elk Grove High School, Elk Grove Village, Cook County)
5. Devin Prasad (Prospect)
6. Lauren English (Evanston Township)

Yearbook Copy Writing
1. Czeslawa Wojtkowski (Okawville Jr.-Sr. High School, Washington County)
2. Alia Kabba (Plainfield East High School, Plainfield, Will County)
3. Claire Filpi (Huntley)
4. Samantha Parish (Alton)
5. Mary Kate Moloney (Prospect)
6. Kayla Brown (South Elgin)

Yearbook Layout: Double-Page Spread
1. Swee-Yang (Ashley) Yong (Hinsdale South)
2. Hope Johnson (Taylorville)
3. Jess Clavero (Huntley)
4. Eileen Campbell (South Elgin)
5. Lizzy Cook (Minooka)
6. Annalisa Baranowski (Wheeling)

Yearbook Theme Development
1. Ariel Hasak-Lowy and Ella Lambert (Evanston Township)
2. Elizabeth Lipka and Sarah Cottone (Buffalo Grove High School, Cook County)
3. Hope Johnson (Taylorville)
4. Luana Dumitrache and Sarah Hussain (Glenbrook South)
5. Margaret O’Shea and Nour Saleh (Harold L. Richards High School, Oak Lawn, Cook County)
6. Khialee Boyles and Kylie Ashton (Washington)