The high school UIL Academic Team claimed two regional championships, qualified seven students to the state meet, and finished in fourth place out of about 50 schools at the Region I-AA meet at Odessa College on April 20-21.

In Lincoln-Douglas debate, Samantha Primeaux defeated a debater from Breckenridge for first place, and Tate Baker placed third after defeating a debater from Early. Both Primeaux and Baker finished preliminary rounds with perfect records.

“I’m very excited about going to state,” said Primeaux. “Our biggest challenge was learning how to adapt to the West Texas debating style, and we gave 110 percent.”

Annie Albrecht qualified for the state meet in two journalism events with a second place in Headline Writing and third place in Editorial Writing.

The Current Issues and Events Team edged out Merkel and Wall for a first place finish. Members include Chris Barnett (4th place individual), Braxton Guinn (6th place individual), Marina Hogan, and Connor Eyzeguirre.

The Computer Science team placed second and will serve as the alternate team to the state meet. Members include, Jacob Hallenberger (4th place individual), Michael O’Rear (6th place individual), and Maegan Wilson (10th place individual).

In Literary Criticism, Eleanor Kirkscey placed sixth. Primeaux also placed fifth in Feature Writing.

Primeaux and Albrecht’s finishes combined for second place for the journalism team.

Baker and Primeaux together placed fifth in the speech team contests.

“We had good leadership from our juniors and seniors,” said UIL Academic Coordinator Russell Kirkscey. “Overall, we were only .66 away from Denver City in third place, so we continue to have a strong program.”

Individuals who placed first through third and teams who placed first qualify for the UIL State Academic Meet at the University of Texas in Austin on May 21-22.