On April 23, eight Bulldog journalists made their way to Norfolk to participate in this year’s State journalism competition. Each live competitor was given a prompt to write or had to take photographs. “State was a super fun experience,” said senior Syble Heffernan. “I enjoyed myself more this year because I had a better understanding of what was going on.” Heffernan qualified for column writing and placed third in her category. Senior Will Stone placed second in the same category and considers his piece one of the best he’s ever written. Junior Bryce Lee placed third in news and feature photography. “It was exciting. I was really nervous [at first], but once the competition began, it was an adrenaline rush,” Lee said. Sophomore Avery Munson competed in photo illustration and said it was fairly stressful since it was his first time at State.

Along with the medals in the individual categories, juniors Haley McKain, Thomas Hoatson, Josie Koubek, sophomore Ainsley Nichols, Lee, and Heffernan, all took home fourth place for their in-depth piece on Mike Groene’s Legislative Bill 595. “I was a little bit disappointed that we didn’t place in the top three because the piece we entered this year was significantly better than the piece I won fourth with last year,” said McKain. “I was still really excited and I’m incredibly proud of the ‘Groene Gang.’”