A four-peat is oh-so-sweet!!
The Oak Lawn Spartan Journalism team won its fourth consecutive IHSA Sectional title on Saturday, April 6th. The team competes in various journalistic events in writing, design, and broadcasting. The Spartans used a mix of experienced members and eager rookies to best the competition from other tradition-rich schools like Walter Payton Prep, Evanston, Argo, Reavis, York, and Oak Park River Forest, to name a few.
The Spartans qualified for the State Finals in fifteen out of the eighteen events. Team members qualify for State in the top three in their sectional events. The Oak Lawn Journalism team will be one of the larger teams heading to State at Bloomington on Friday, April 26th.
Head Coach Mr. DiFilippo commented, “I am so proud of this team for winning the Sectional. We have had an incredible four-year run of Sectional titles. We plan to take that momentum to Bloomington and hopefully earn some hardware.
The Oak Lawn Journalism team is led by several veterans of the IHSA state tournament, who would like to make another run at the State Championship after finishing in the top five last year.
Grace Tynski, a double State qualifier as a Sectional Champion in Feature Writing and Second Place in Review Writing, commented, “Becoming a state qualifier as a senior is such a rewarding experience. I’ve been on the journalism team for four years and a State qualifier for three years, and each year, I’ve tried to improve and evolve my writing. From now until the state competition, I’ll work hard to improve my craft and put my best foot forward at State.”
Grace is not alone in her pursuit of putting her best foot forward at State.
Senior Sierra Knutsen, Sectional Champion and State Qualifier in Yearbook Caption Writing, stated, “I am so excited to be part of this state qualifying team. We have a very strong team, and we can take home a first-place trophy if everyone considers their critiques and adjusts to perform at their best.”
Grace and Sierra were joined as Sectional Champions by Annabel Davison (Editorial Writing), Allie Gabriel (Sports Writing), the dynamic duo of Mia Reyes and Staci Sandquist (Yearbook Theme Development), Heather Sterling (Advertisement), Rawan Ali (Photo Story Telling), and Camilia Ramirez (Yearbook Copy).
Other Oak Lawn Journalism qualifiers were Yumn Elameer (Infographics), Omar Tellez (Newspaper Design), Omar Ali (Radio Broadcast), Adan Dominguez (Headline Writing), Rizan Ali (Yearbook Layout), and the trio of Gabriel Gaidelis, Victoria Hartin, and Oluwasemilogo Oyekunie (Video News Broadcast).
Heather Sterling, Adan Dominguez, Rawan Ali, Camilia Ramirez, Omar Ali Gabe Gaidelis, and Oluwasemilogo Oyekunie made their debut performance memorable by earning a trip to State.
Mr. DiFilippo reflected on these performances by saying, “We have some tested journalists on the team, and we incorporated some new talented students into the mix. I think this blend will be the winning formula on April 26th.