Lemont Junior Emily Bawiec Earns Medal At 2026 IHSA Journalism State Finals

LEMONT, IL — Lemont High School advanced a school-record nine entries to the 2026 IHSA Journalism State Finals, which were contested at Heartland Community College on April 24, the District shared in a news release.

Junior Emily Bawiec earned a state medal by placing sixth in the Editorial Cartooning category, the school said. All seven of the competing students made their state finals debuts.

Lemont matched a program record established in 2014 by finishing as the sectional runner-up. Lemont set a school record with three sectional champions: Bawiec in Editorial Cartooning, and senior Ava Amato in both Copy Editing and Sports Writing. Amato became the first Lemont student to win sectional titles in one year, and Lemont had multiple sectional titlists in the same year for third time in school history, the school said.

Junior Kevin Collins also qualified for two state finals events after placing second and third, respectively, in the Newspaper Design and Headline Writing categories in sectional competition. Lemont’s other state finals qualifiers included seniors Ema Gaidukevicius (Radio News) and Teagan Lee (Yearbook Copy Writing), junior Daniela Sutas (Editorial Writing), and freshman Sophia Filisha (Yearbook Caption Writing), all of whom were sectional runners-up. The top three finishers in each category in sectional competition earn state finals berths, according to LHS.

Lemont has advanced qualifiers to the IHSA Journalism State Finals 16 of 17 years dating back to 2009 (not including 2020, when the IHSA State Series was cancelled). Multiple Lemont students have qualified for the state finals on 15 occasions since 2009, the school said.

The IHSA Journalism State Finals includes contests in 18 newspaper- and yearbook related categories, with students being asked to meet a different challenge in each competition. The top three finishers in each category from each IHSA Sectional advance to compete at the IHSA State Finals. Lemont’s Journalism advisor is Brandon Hillary, and its head Yearbook sponsor is Cara Forde.