From tiebreak to heartbreak.
That’s what happened to a team of eight Accolade staff members who competed for the Sweepstakes trophy at the Southern California Journalism Education Association [SCJEA] Student Media Competition at El Camino College in Torrance earlier this month.
They placed second after losing the tiebreaker against Northwood High School, with last year’s winning team from Oxford Academy placing third. The Saturday, April 5, competition featured journalism teams from throughout Southern California, including such counties as Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego.
“We had a chance for a clean sweep of winning Orange County Journalism Education Association [OCJEA] write-offs Sweepstakes and this one — something that hasn’t been done since I was the adviser the first time around in the 2004-2005 school year,” Accolade adviser and journalism teacher Tommy Li said. “To come that close and lose because of the tiebreaking rules is so disappointing. Northwood also deserves praise for what it was able to accomplish.
“Nevertheless, I’m proud of this group and what we’ve accomplished this whole school year — such success that our journalism program has never seen before at the local and national levels.”
Besides its second-place finish in the Sweepstakes contest, The Accolade’s online news website captured the first-place plaque in the SCJEA’s pre-competition judged contest called California All-Stars, beating 14 other high school online news websites. Brea-Olinda’s online news website placed second, followed by Northwood in third place.
“This is the second year in a row that we’ve beaten some strong competition, and it’s a testimony to our hard-working staff of editors, writers, photographers, videographers, illustrators, podcasters and data team members to help us obtain this honor,” Li said.
Web editor-in-chief senior Seowon Han wasn’t able to make it to the awards ceremony but was pleased to learn of the award when Li reviewed the results with the fourth-period Accolade class on Tuesday, April 8. The class didn’t meet on Monday because of the school’s block schedule to accommodate for juniors’ state testing.
“I didn’t expect anything much after online placed second in the OCJEA, so I was really surprised and elated when I found out we won first place for the state competition,” Han said. “It feels especially rewarding because we were short by 0.5 points last time against Brea Olinda, but having the close-call with the tiebreaker against Northwood for Sweepstakes this time was [also] tough.”
After winning the inaugural OCJEA North Division Sweepstakes on Saturday, Feb. 22, The Accolade advanced to the Southern California state competition on Saturday, April 5.
The squad earned the highest score alongside Northwood High School with 33 points, but because the latter’s students scored higher in more contest categories — editorial and feature — Sunny Hills lost out to Northwood based on that tiebreaker rule.
The Sweepstakes points are based on the Top 10 placements in four different writing categories — news, editorial, feature and sports. First place is awarded 10 points, and a second place gets nine, while 10th place receives one; the school with the highest cumulative score wins the Sweepstakes trophy.
The participating staff members each placed in their respective categories:
- First place sports: co-Sports editor junior Lauren Kang, who received a medal
- Fourth place editorial: co-Opinion editor junior Aashna Dialani
- Fifth place sports: co-Sports editor junior Yena Oh
- Sixth place news: web managing editor senior Justin Pak
- Ninth place editorial: web editor-in-chief senior Seowon Han
- Ninth place news: News editor junior Irene Park
- 10th place news: assistant News editor junior Kevin Lee
Kang shared her joy after winning her first-place medal.
“I was so shocked when I saw the results because I really did not expect myself to get first place,” the co-Sports editor said. “Especially since it’s my first year competing, I felt grateful for the opportunity.”
However, the participating staff members who couldn’t get the rank they wanted expressed their disappointment.
“At first I was glad I still placed at this state-level competition, but when the team results came out, I couldn’t help but feel sorry,” Lee said. “If I tried a little harder, maybe I could’ve gotten a higher placement to avoid the tiebreak situation.”
Dialani, who hopes to compete in the SCJEA again next year, said her goal is to win the student contest.
“I am happy with the growth that I saw going from seventh place at OCJEA to fourth place at SCJEA; hopefully, next year I will be able to take home the first-place award,” the co-Opinion editor said. “I want to have as many people competing next year, maybe even making it a requirement, because that will be the only way we can maximize our chances of winning.”
The staff members who did not participate in the Sweepstakes categories produced the following results:
- Second-place editorial cartoon: illustrator sophomore Joanna Joo, who earned a medal
- Third-place broadcast: videographer sophomore Sua Lee, who earned a medal
- Third-place feature photography: photographer junior Katie Leem, who earned a medal
- Fourth place critical review: co-copy editor junior Serenity Li
- Honorable mention novice news: Spotlight reporter sophomore Kyuwon Han
Leem, the only participating photographer at the competition, was taking photos when her name was announced.
“I was preparing to take photos of other people who won, so when I heard my name get called out for third-place, I was so shocked that I couldn’t believe it,” Leem said. “I remember screaming so loud, but I’m very honored to be recognized at such a competition, and this definitely motivated me to try harder to become a better photographer for our program.”
