LHS Junior Named Tops In Texas At State UIL
May 07, 2008
Junior Christopher Contreras was named the Tops in Texas editorial writer May 2 at the University of Texas at Austin UIL State Academic Contest. The honor came after Contreras was awarded the first-place medal for 3A editorial writers; Tops in Texas indicates the outstanding contestant from 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, and 5A.
Contreras has been competing in UIL Editorial Writing, along
with other journalism events, since the fall of 2005, and practices
regularly. Still, he was surprised at the results.
“This is something flat-out amazing,” Contreras said. “I went there
expecting to lose in my classification, but ended up walking out
more than the 3A champion. I was nervous at first, stunned, and,
finally, thankful.”
Contreras gave credit to his former UIL coach Brenda Emley, along with current coach Michelle Grajeda. “I owe a lot to my past coaches, Ms. Emley and Ms. Grajeda,” Contreras said. “Editorial writing is not something you know how to do; it’s structured and develops over time. Without these two, I wouldn’t have been able to claim Tops in Texas, a title no one from Lytle has been able to claim before.”
Contreras was joined at the state contest by five other regional advancers, including senior Carlo Mannino, who placed seventh in Literary Criticism. The Literary Criticism team of Mannino, senior Sean Douglas, senior Melanie Rodriguez and senior Emily Smith were the fifth-place team in State 3A. Senior Riley Kreger competed in Informative Speaking, placing sixth in his round. Kreger was coached by Suzanne Casias.
