Lemont HS Junior Takes Fifth in Feature Writing at IHSA Journalism State Finals

Lemont High School junior Kristin Washagan finished fifth in the Feature Writing category at the 2014 IHSA Journalism State Finals, which were contested on the campus of Eastern Illinois University on May 2. Washagan, who was one of Lemont’s school-record seven state qualifiers, is the school’s fifth student to earn an IHSA Journalism state medal.

Lemont has advanced qualifiers to the IHSA Journalism State Finals six consecutive years. Its top finisher was Charmaine Balisalisa ‘12, who won a state title in the Info Graphics category in 2012. David Timm ‘10 (2010; 4th - Headline Writing), Madeleine George ‘12 (2012; 4th - Feature Photography) and Laura Harding ‘13 (2013; 3rd - Editorial Writing) also have placed in their categories in state finals competition.

The IHSA Journalism State Finals includes contests in 16 categories, with students being asked to meet a different challenge in each competition. The top six students in each competition earn a medal.

In the Feature Writing category, students receive both live and written interview information, and subsequently write a feature story of no more than 500 words based on the information provided. In addition to well written and organized articles, judges look for the use of an interesting lead, accurate details about the information provided by the subject, and proper style and mechanics.

After sending five students to state finals competition three of the previous four years, Lemont qualified a record number of students to vie for state titles in 2014. Besides Washagan, six more students—including seniors Erin Bendle, Mandy Gieseler and Ingrid Lejins; juniors Helen Kollarik and Joshua Traynere; and sophomore Frank Vaughn - finished among the top three in their respective categories at the IHSA Moraine Valley Sectional to advance to state finals competition. All seven were making their state finals debuts.

Lemont not only advanced a record number of students to the IHSA State Finals, but its runner-up finish in the team standings marked the program’s best placement in sectional competition. Lemont’s previous best team effort came in 2011, when it was fourth at the Lewis University Sectional.

Bendle was Lemont’s top performer at the sectional, winning the Editorial Cartooning competition. Washagan, Traynere (Info Graphics) and Vaughn (Yearbook Layout) all were runners-up in their respective categories. Gieseler (Yearbook Copy Writing), Kollarik (Copy Editing) and Lejins (Review Writing) all earned third-place finishes.

Homewood-Flossmoor (64 points) was the only team to top Lemont (51) in the IHSA Moraine Valley Sectional team standings. The rest of the top five included T.F. South (41), Shepard (29) and Eisenhower (27).

Bendle, Kollarik, Lejins, Traynere and Washagan all are staff members of the Tom-Tom, the school’s newspaper. Gieseler and Vaughn are staff members of The Keepatawn, the school’s yearbook. Lemont’s Journalism advisor is Sean Clark, while its yearbook advisors are Ann Marie Rafacz and Ashley Good.