May 23, 2023

The members of the Hendrickson UIL Academic team recently showcased their exceptional skills at the highly competitive 5A Academic Meet held at The University of Texas. 

Among the notable achievements, junior Kate Hayes received 2nd place in Headline Writing. Senior Lucas Flores claimed 3rd place in the Lincoln Douglas debate, as well as an impressive 2nd place in Informative Speaking. Additionally, junior Cecilia Acosta earned a commendable 5th place in Persuasive Speaking.

The collective efforts of the Hendrickson UIL Academic team paid off as they were crowned the 5A State Champion Speech Team. The speech points were also contributed by their previous accomplishments in CX Debate, where Shauri Yedavalli and Isaiah Duvvuri demonstrated their expertise.

In the overall standings, Hendrickson achieved 5th place in the Overall Academic Sweepstakes out of the 138 schools participating in the 5A Academic Meet. This is the team's best placement in the Academic Meet to date, marking a great milestone.

In addition, several other students from Hendrickson also participated in the meet, showcasing their talents and contributing to the team's overall performance. Maya Hay participated in Persuasive Speaking, while Hannah Saad participated in Literary Criticism. Also, JC Haub, Simon Alvarez, and Neha Gandra acted as alternates to the state in Literary Criticism, while Kaitlyn Nash and Aidan Cheely served as alternates in Extemporaneous Speaking. Shauri Yedavalli participated in Current Events, and Lili Moreno and Natalia Zavaleta competed in Journalism. Lastly, Kaitlyn Nash exhibited her skills in Ready Writing. Jordan Smith coached the Literary Criticism program, Kari Reimer oversaw the Journalism program, and the Speech & Debate program was under the guidance of Kirsten Nash and Aly Mithani.

Congratulations to all the students and teachers on an exceptional year in academic competitions!