Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Edwardsville High School Entry Title: Fresh Faces, Fast Feet Lead Cross Country Entry Credit: Logan Szymanski Judge Comment: Nice double meaning of "Fresh" to coincide with the emphasis on freshmen contributors to the team. The fact that several of them are outpacing previous athletes gives credibility to "fast feet," so the headline efficiently captures the full scope of the story.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Niles West High School Entry Title: Dogs Visit the Library to Make Finals Week Less “Ruff” Entry Credit: Aishah Khan, Ibrahim Quadri Judge Comment: Clever use of "rough/ruff" homophone, which piques interest in the story. You could tighten the headline by not using "the." Feature stories lend themselves to more creative possibilities with headlines, so more casual or playful language before "ruff" might catch a student audience's eyes more quickly.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Glenbard West High School Entry Title: From Grief to Forgiveness; Shrinking Season Two Surpasses Expectations Entry Credit: Claire Borncamp Judge Comment: The headline is solid. As a review of a show with the title of "Shrinking," especially since it is a comedy, something more fun with word choice would be nice -- perhaps a contrast to "shrinking" in place of "surpasses" (soars, stretches, etc.)
