The Kansas Scholastic Press Association recognized more than 160 placing entries from 6A students in the KSPA State Journalism Contests during the State Journalism Celebration on May 2 at the University of Kansas.
Leading in the sweepstakes competition was Shawnee Mission East High School, followed by the runner-up Mill Valley High School. For the first time, KSPA also recognized top-performing schools by contest type. Receiving honors were:
- 6A Design Contests Sweepstakes: Mill Valley, winner; and Shawnee Mission East, runner-up.
- 6A Multimedia Contests Sweepstakes: Shawnee Mission East, winner; and Maize Career Academy, runner-up.
- 6A Photography Contests Sweepstakes: Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, winner; and Shawnee Mission North High School and Mill Valley High School, tied as runners-up.
- 6A Writing Contests Sweepstakes: Shawnee Mission East, winner; Mill Valley High School High School, runner-up.
More than 400 qualifying entries gave students who created them the opportunity to compete at state after students placed first through sixth during regional competitions earlier this semester. Students competed in writing, design, videography, multimedia and photography contests, responding to prompts.
Resources for schools:
- Promote your winners: Use this press release to promote the accomplishments of your students to your school, community newspapers and school districts.
- Different view: Review all placing entries on this spreadsheet and see a breakdown of the top point-earning schools here.
- Corrections: Final corrections requests due at noon on May 13
- 1A/2A Winners Announcement Link
- 3A/4A Winners Announcement Link
- 5A Winners Announcement Link
- 6A Winners Announcement Link
Design Contest Winners
Advertising Design (6A)
1st Place — Sri Trikona, Blue Valley Northwest
2nd Place — Stephanie Neang, Manhattan High School
3rd Place — Emme McGuire, Blue Valley High School
4th Place — Libby Marsh, Shawnee Mission East
5th Place — Winter DeHaven, Mill Valley High School
6th Place — Avery Clement, Mill Valley High School
Digital Illustration (6A)
1st Place — Dani Hufford, Olathe South High School
2nd Place — Abby Mahony, Blue Valley West High School
3rd Place — Likhitha Vunnama, Blue Valley North High School
4th Place — Emery Kimbrough, Blue Valley West High School
5th Place — Francesca Lorusso, Shawnee Mission East
6th Place — Avery Clement, Mill Valley High School
Editorial Cartoon (6A)
1st Place — Oliver Feiring, Mill Valley High School
2nd Place — Elsa Ratliff, Blue Valley West High School
3rd Place — Julia Campbell, Shawnee Mission East
4th Place — Ana Varillas, Shawnee Mission North High School
5th Place — Quinlyn Peters, Mill Valley High School
6th Place — Bella Lylo, Lawrence Free State High School
Headline Writing & Design (6A)
1st Place — Sophia Brockmeier, Shawnee Mission East
2nd Place — Paige Faulkner, Blue Valley High School
3rd Place — Quinlyn Peters, Mill Valley High School
4th Place — Sydney Eck, Shawnee Mission East
5th Place — Benjamin Werner, Blue Valley High School
6th Place — Doreen Mahugu, Mill Valley High School
Infographic Design (6A)
1st Place — Odelia Carter, Shawnee Mission North High School
2nd Place — Katelynn Travis, Olathe South High School
3rd Place — Emily Kozlowski, Blue Valley High School
4th Place — Isabella Broce, Shawnee Mission East
5th Place — Sophia Brockmeier, Shawnee Mission East
6th Place — Avery Clement, Mill Valley High School
News Page Design (6A)
1st Place — Avery Clement, Mill Valley High School
2nd Place — Quinlyn Peters, Mill Valley High School
3rd Place — Elizabeth Owusu Addo, Shawnee Mission South High School
4th Place — Sydney Eck, Shawnee Mission East
5th Place — Greta Grist, Shawnee Mission Northwest
6th Place — Claire Elley, Blue Valley Northwest
Yearbook Design (6A)
1st Place — Vielka Corrales, Shawnee Mission South High School
2nd Place — Zella Allyn, Blue Valley High School
3rd Place — June Schmidt, Wichita East High School
4th Place — Madison Wang, Blue Valley High School
5th Place — Leila Thach, Wichita Southeast High School
6th Place — Julia Andrade, Lawrence Free State High School
Yearbook Theme & Graphics (6A)
1st Place — Elise Powell, Miley Truong, Shawnee Mission West
2nd Place — Vielka Corrales, Shawnee Mission South High School
3rd Place — Alexandra Powell, Gracie Pollicita, Mill Valley High School
4th Place — Leila Thach, Wichita Southeast High School
5th Place — Macy Williams, Shawnee Mission North High School
6th Place — Catherine Sullivan, Halle Klocke, Shawnee Mission East
Multimedia Contest Winners
Multimedia Storytelling (6A)
1st Place — Avni Bansal, Lucy Swope, Ava Towner, Shawnee Mission East
2nd Place — Evan LeRoy, Kennedy Botkin, Avery Clement, Jason Sweany, Mill Valley High School
3rd Place — Macy Williams, Kristen LeBeau, Shawnee Mission North High School
4th Place — Lauryn O’Brien, Malia Taylor, Emma Palmer, Maize Career Academy
5th Place — Maddy Mullins, Kayla Rawson, Mallory Love, Blue Valley West High School
6th Place — Rishitha Bonthu, Iqra Nadeem, Ainsley Gatoff, Elsa Schalekamp, Blue Valley Northwest
Social Media (6A)
1st Place — Naomi Rodriguez, Olathe South High School, Link 2
2nd Place — Katie Campbell, Julia Andrade, Owen Gerrish, Lawrence Free State High School, Link 2 & Link 3
3rd Place — Paige Bean, Michael Yi, Grace Pei, Addie Clark, Shawnee Mission East, Link 2
4th Place — Jocelyn Henry, Gabby Johnson, Blue Valley Northwest, Link 2 & Link 3
5th Place — Lucy James, Sami Sandler, Paige Faulkner, Blue Valley High School, Link 2 & Link 3
6th Place — Benjamin Werner, Emme McGuire, Lailah Pulley, Emily Kozlowski, Blue Valley High School, Link 2 & Link 3
Video PSA (6A)
1st Place — Brooke Carter, Blue Valley West High School
2nd Place — Jackson Bulthaup, Ares Hoeting, Jayden Suggs, Manhattan High School
3rd Place — Katie Davis, Nicole Cooper, Mill Valley High School
4th Place — Lance Schafer, Isaac Fulks, Lucas Gordon, Maize Career Academy
5th Place — Syd Peal, Daniel Hernandez, Shawnee Mission North High School
6th Place — Emma Weidman, Ana Schaefer, Lucy Cattano, Shawnee Mission East
Video Sports Promo (6A)
1st Place — Carson Thoendel, Cooper Pruett, Olathe South High School
2nd Place — Ava Doyle, Maize Career Academy
3rd Place — Joseph Kariuki, Lauren Nielsen, Shawnee Mission South High School
4th Place — Ana Schaefer, Hudson Terreros, Lexi Madden, Shawnee Mission East
5th Place — Brooke Carter, Blue Valley West High School
6th Place — Hadley Doyle, Mill Valley High School
Video Story Package (6A)
1st Place — Preston Hooker, Rowan McGill, Alex Harden, Hudson Terreros, Shawnee Mission East
2nd Place — Hailey Blurton, Lauryn O’Brien, Maize Career Academy
3rd Place — Scarlett Weiss, Zach McDowell, Blue Valley West High School
4th Place — Lance Schafer, Mason Bauman, Maize Career Academy
5th Place — Biti Hasabu, Faith Pittenger, Mill Valley High School
6th Place — Jazmine Snyder, Wichita Southeast High School
Voiceover (6A)
1st Place — Luciana Mendy, Shawnee Mission East
2nd Place — Phoenix Johnson, Mill Valley High School
3rd Place — Hailey Blurton, Maize Career Academy
4th Place — Lexi Madden, Shawnee Mission East
5th Place — Evan LeRoy, Mill Valley High School
6th Place — Lance Schafer, Maize Career Academy
Photography Contest Winners
Academics Photography (6A)
1st Place — Gabriel Larkin, Shawnee Mission Northwest
2nd Place — Tyler Russell, Shawnee Mission East
3rd Place — Sophie Debes, Maize High School
4th Place — Vivien Glenski, Shawnee Mission East
5th Place — Alexandra Powell, Mill Valley High School
6th Place — Michaela Polzer, Shawnee Mission North High School
Sports Action Photography (6A)
1st Place — Stella Mages, Shawnee Mission North High School
2nd Place — Evie Tindell, Mill Valley High School
3rd Place — Bryce Norris, Blue Valley West High School
4th Place — Cody Arenholz, Olathe South High School
5th Place — Mila Van Hoecke, Blue Valley High School
6th Place — Carter Braden, Lawrence Free State High School
Sports Feature Photography (6A)
1st Place — Gabriel Larkin, Shawnee Mission Northwest
2nd Place — Lauren Yonke, Blue Valley Northwest
3rd Place — Aisha Shariff, Blue Valley West High School
4th Place — Bree Stuhlsatz, Derby High School
5th Place — Josie Mangine, Shawnee Mission East
6th Place — Stella Mages, Shawnee Mission North High School
Sports Media Portrait Photography (6A)
1st Place — Patrick Barney, Olathe East
2nd Place — Lauren Yonke, Blue Valley Northwest
3rd Place — Sylias McCaffree, Wichita East High School
4th Place — Carson Thoendel, Olathe South High School
5th Place — Evie Tindell Tindell, Mill Valley High School
6th Place — Emma Palmer, Maize Career Academy
Student Life Photography (6A)
1st Place — Madeleine Burleigh, Blue Valley High School
2nd Place — Macy Williams, Shawnee Mission North High School
3rd Place — Evie Tindell, Mill Valley High School
4th Place — Isaac Fulks, Maize Career Academy
5th Place — Gabriel Larkin, Shawnee Mission Northwest
6th Place — Madyson McKenna, Shawnee Mission South High School
Writing Contest Winners
Copyediting (6A)
1st Place — Danielle Croom, Blue Valley Northwest
2nd Place — Delaney Haase, Lawrence High School
3rd Place — Olivia Moore, Blue Valley North High School
4th Place — Beckett Hodes, Blue Valley High School
5th Place — Avni Bansal, Shawnee Mission East
6th Place — Paul Struby, Blue Valley North High School
Cutline Writing (Captions) (6A)
1st Place — Kasey Manol, Olathe East
2nd Place — Delaney Haase, Lawrence High School
3rd Place — Alexandra Powell, Mill Valley High School
4th Place — Marlee Wallace, Mill Valley High School
5th Place — Molly Numrich, Blue Valley Northwest
6th Place — Madyson McKenna, Shawnee Mission South High School
Editorial Writing (6A)
1st Place — Michael Yi, Shawnee Mission East
2nd Place — Aneesah Jameel, Shawnee Mission West
3rd Place — Audrey Leen, Maize Career Academy
4th Place — Mya Smith, Shawnee Mission East
5th Place — Maddie Martin, Mill Valley High School
6th Place — Varun Koduri, Blue Valley West High School
Feature Writing (6A)
1st Place — Kristen LeBeau, Shawnee Mission North High School
2nd Place — Evie Chancy, Lawrence Free State High School
3rd Place — Sloane Henderson, Shawnee Mission East
4th Place — Kennedy Botkin, Mill Valley High School
5th Place — Adria Heinauer, Blue Valley Northwest
6th Place — Andrea Lucas, Olathe South High School
News Writing (6A)
1st Place — Morgan Sponholtz, Lawrence Free State High School
2nd Place — Maria Mosconi, Lawrence Free State High School
3rd Place — Mallory Love, Blue Valley West High School
4th Place — Phoebe Morris, Lawrence Free State High School
5th Place — Finley Johnson, Blue Valley West High School
6th Place — Inaya Zaman, Blue Valley Northwest
Newspaper Sports Writing (6A)
1st Place — Lane Lewison, Manhattan High School
2nd Place — Evan LeRoy, Mill Valley High School
3rd Place — Maddy Mullins, Blue Valley West High School
4th Place — Addy Newman, Shawnee Mission East
5th Place — Ayavanth Natarajan, Manhattan High School
6th Place — Wyatt Jones, Topeka High School
Review Writing (6A)
1st Place — Kennedy Smith, Olathe South High School
2nd Place — Alex Harden, Shawnee Mission East
3rd Place — Alice Keeling, Shawnee Mission South High School
4th Place — Rishitha Bonthu, Blue Valley Northwest
5th Place — Jonathan Moon, Manhattan High School
6th Place — Amistad Aguilera, Blue Valley North High School
Yearbook Copywriting (6A)
1st Place — Savannah Crenshaw, Blue Valley Northwest
2nd Place — Gracie Pollicita, Mill Valley High School
3rd Place — Aniston Crabtree, Mill Valley High School
4th Place — Emmy O’Roark, Shawnee Mission East
5th Place — Kristen LeBeau, Shawnee Mission North High School
6th Place — Sasha Rusco, Wichita East High School
Yearbook Sports Writing (6A)
1st Place — Courtney Reiser, Shawnee Mission East
2nd Place — Kristen LeBeau, Shawnee Mission North High School
3rd Place — Ali Dahl, Blue Valley Northwest
4th Place — Noah DeVault, Derby High School
5th Place — Brooke Williams, Blue Valley High School
6th Place — Jonah Wanklyn, Manhattan High School