Students Win District UIL Amid Challenges

Fairfield placed first as a school in the 2021 District 20 3A UIL meet held at Buffalo High School. Out of 14 team events, Fairfield took 1st place team in six and 2nd place team in two. Those teams and individuals advancing will attend the regional meet on April 17 at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas. 

“I really did not know what to expect this year at UIL,” social studies UIL coach Jeff Wright said. “Being in a new district, I wasn’t sure what to expect from our competitors.” 

In the new UIL realignment, Fairfield was moved from 4A to 3A. In the new district, Fairfield competed against Buffalo, Crockett, Elkhart, Franklin, Teague, and Westwood.

“I didn’t expect to get first,” junior Bailee Acreman said. “I’m glad I did though because now I have a chance to do better.” 

Acreman placed 1st in Editorial Writing along with senior Emily Chavers who placed 2nd and junior Jordan Macial who placed 5th. 

“My team placed 2nd as a team; however, only the 1st place team advances,” Wright said. “Karley Thomasssen placed 2nd and will be going [to regional] this year as an individual.” 

Fairfield reached 1st with 543 points, Buffalo came second with 405 points, and Elkhart was 3rd with 207 points. The computer science team won first place team along with accounting, calculator applications, mathematics, number sense, and science. Science took the top individual award in biology, physics, and chemistry.

“We were very excited and a little bit worried about Buffalo,” UIL coordinator, Renea Worley said. “We had some obstacles that we weren’t expecting.” 

Because of a sudden quarantine, many high-ranking students from teams were out for the district meet. This caused coaches to rearrange their teams in order to manage their disadvantage. 

“I think four teams had to replace their top competitors because of quarantine,” UIL coordinator Kathie Maciel said. “Those alternates really stepped up. We had several students, who were originally alternates, place and advance in their event or help carry their team to first place.”

The high school’s prom is on the same day as the regional meet, and Mont Belvieu is almost 3 hours away from Fairfield which minimizes the students time to get ready for the event. Teachers and coordinators are planning to bus students back as early as possible to get ready for prom.

 “The regional meet is on the same day as prom,” junior Tedi Blassingame said. “It’s going to be stressful for everyone mostly because everyone that is going is a junior or senior, which is who prom is for. I’m glad Mrs. Worley is looking for a way for us to do both.”

Complete results are as follows:

Accounting, First place team, 1 Zac Phillips, 2 Kendal Crawford,  3 Frankie Nelson, other team members include Kendal Crawford.

Calculator Applications, First place team, 1 Zach Phillips, 2 Chasidy Starr, other team members include Elizabeth Rath and River Bonds.

Computer Applications, 1 Frankie Nelson, 2 Hayley Gomez, 3 Rileigh White.

Computer Science, First place team, 1 Nathan Dunlap, 3 Robby Walia, 4 Leslie Vaughn.

Journalism, Second place team.

Copy Editing, 4 Bailee Acreman.

Editorial Writing, 1 Bailee Acreman, 2 Emily Chavers, 5 Jordan Maciel.

Headline Writing, 4 Makenzie Van.

News Writing, 2 Tedi Blassingame.

Speech and debate, Second place team.

Informative Speaking, 1 Lily Beaver, 3 Carsyn Cox, 5 Dennis Covert.

Lincoln Douglas Debate, 2 Robby Walia.

Persuasive Speaking, 2 Kelton Carlson.

Poetry Interpretation, 2 Kayden Salinas, 5 Emma Smith.

Literary Criticism, Second place team, 2 Rachel Reyes, 4 Madysen Farris, other team members include Bailee Acreman and Alyson Sanchez.

Mathematics, First place team, 1 Zac Phillips, 3 Robby Walia, 5 Avery Peterson, other team members include Emory Davis.

Number Sense, First place team, 2 Robby Walia, 3 Zac Phillips, other team members include Samuel Marsters.

Ready Writing, 4 Madison Thaler.

Science, First place team, 1 Nathan Dunlap, 2 Jonathan Thomas, 3 Robby Walia, Top Chemistry Nathan Dunlap, Top Physics Nathan Dunlap, Top Biology Jonathan Thomas, other team members include Payton Botelho, Erivan Salazar, and Maria Santana.

Social Studies, Second place team, 2 Karley Thomassen, other team members include Eashan Kalyanji, River Bonds, and Cooper Craddick.

Spelling and Vocabulary, 3 Jeremy Kilkenny, 5 Avery Peterson.