7 Inkspot journalists qualify for IHSA State Finals, led by Sectional Champs in TV News

Inkspot Staff • Apr 15, 2025

Mr. Brad Bovenkerk

11 Inkspot staff members competed in one of seven IHSA Journalism Sectionals statewide, facing 11 schools from across Central Illinois and the southwest suburbs. The top six finishers in each event earned team points, with the top three advancing to the IHSA State Finals.

Seven Inkspot staff members qualified for the IHSA State Journalism Finals, set for April 25 at Heartland Community College.

At the April 5 Sectional competition, Bryce Hickman, Carter Hull, Arwen Georges, Beatrix Alvarez and the team of Bella Green, Leon Castaneda and Audra Wolf earned top-three finishes to advance to State.

The competition tested real-world journalism skills—including reporting, writing, editing, media production, layout design and editorial cartooning—under 90-minute or three-hour time limits.

Green, Castaneda and Wolf won the Sectional title in TV News for their two-minute video segment on a proposed statewide school cell phone ban.

Green, the Inkspot’s Editor-in-Chief, and Hickman will return to the State Finals for the second consecutive year. Hickman qualified in two events, placing second in Feature Writing and third in Review Writing.

Hull, Georges and Alvarez each earned third-place finishes to qualify for their first State appearances. Hull will compete in Editorial Cartooning, Georges in Newspaper Design and Alvarez in Copy Editing.

As a team, Community tied for fourth with 43 points, scoring in 14 of the 15 events entered. Washington took home the Sectional title for the third-straigh season.

A complete list of Inkspot point-scorers is provided below.

2025 Journalism Sectionals Point-Scorers

Beatrix Alvarez – Yearbook Copywriting – 6th place

Arwen Georges – Headline Writing – 6th place

EJ Fisher – Yearbook Double-Page Spread Design – 6th place

Carter Hull – Advertising – 5th place

Lyra Townsend – Photo Storytelling – 5th place

EJ Fisher – Infographics – 4th place

Zach Knox-Doyle – Sports Writing – 4th place

Brady Phelps – Radio News – 4th place

Beatriz Alvarez – Copy Editing – 3rd place*

Carter Hull – Editorial Cartooning – 3rd place*

Arwen Georges – Newspaper Design – 3rd place*

Bryce Hickman – Review Writing – 3rd place*

Bryce Hickman – Feature Writing – 2nd place*

Bella Green, Leon Castaneda, Audra Wolf – TV News – 1st place*

*State Qualifier

Team Finish – 43 points – 4th place

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Inkspot Staff

Stories published under Inkspot Staff are unattributed to a single reporter because they: have been produced through a collaborative staff effort; individual staff member contribution is not easily distinguishable; and/or the story was disseminated from announcements or press releases.