Students competed at the Regional Academic UIL contest April 23-25 on the Stephen F. Austin campus in Nacogdoches.

“This was SFA’s first time to host a 5A regional academic contest,” UIL coordinator Janice Caldwell said. “The campus was beautiful, and our students did their best. We are excited to take three students and two alternates to state.”

The teams competing include journalism, computer applications, extemporaneous speaking and number sense. A few of the students have been before, while this is a first for others. Freshman Ronak Desai is competing in number sense and informative speaking, and he hopes to qualify in the future.

“It’s exciting to go to regionals as a freshman, but it’s also slightly intimidating considering the competition that will be there,” Desai said. “I certainly plan on qualifying for regionals in my future high school years, though I plan to increase my success beyond that as well eventually.”

Students advancing to the state championship include Noah Clayton–2nd in Computer Applications, Cody Gustafson–1st in Informative Speaking, and Bethany Thompson–2nd in journalism feature writing.  Also placing at the event were Jonas Thrasher-Evers–5th in Persuasive, and Evan Bewersdorf-5th in informative.

“I am so proud of everything these kids have accomplished,” journalism coach Neda Morrow said.  “They amaze me with all the ways they are so talented. I know they will do well at state.”