LHS Senior Earns Second State Title At 2023 IHSA Journalism Finals

LEMONT, IL — Lemont High School senior Andrew Kula is the first two-time journalism state champion in school history, LHS said in a news release.

Kula captured the Radio News category at the 2023 IHSA Journalism State Finals, which were contested at Heartland Community College on April 21. Kula was a repeat winner in his event, which was titled Broadcast News when he won his first state title in 2022, according to the school.

Junior Caroline Vranas placed fifth in Headline Writing to earn a state medal, while senior Reagan Russell (Review Writing) and juniors Ella Murray (Newspaper Design) and Leila Rexhepi (Photo Story Telling) also participated in state finals competition.

Kula and Russell both made their second state finals appearances, while Murray, Rexhepi and Vranas all were making their state finals debuts, the school said. Lemont’s state qualifiers each placed among the top three in their respective categories in sectional competition to earn their state finals berths. Lemont participated in Sectional 7, with Rexhepi earning a sectional title and Kula, Murray, Russell and Vranas all posting runner-up finishes in their events.

Lemont has advanced qualifiers to the IHSA Journalism State Finals 14 consecutive years dating back to 2009 (not including 2020, when the IHSA State Series was cancelled). Multiple Lemont students have qualified for the state finals 13 straight seasons (not including 2020), and Lemont tallied a school-record seven qualifiers in 2014, 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, according to the school. The top three finishers in each category from each IHSA Sectional advance to compete at the IHSA State Finals. Lemont’s journalism advisor is Susan Szafranski, and its head Yearbook sponsor is Cara Forde.