No club, sport or academic activity seems to be complete without some sort of competition, whether it be advancing into the playoffs, winning conference for JV Scholastic Bowl and even taking on who writes best.

Every February, students in journalism and yearbook classes from seven schools across the SPC gather at MCHS for a journalism invitational.

Feb. 23 was the eighth annual Minooka Journalism Invitational hosted at Central Campus, and it was one to remember.

“I was pretty nervous at the beginning, but by second block I was more used to it,” James McGrew, sophomore, said.

This was McGrew’s first time competing with the Journalism team and he placed in both news writing and sports writing.

At the end of the day, Minooka won the competition with a total of 83 points, and the team was able to keep the traveling trophy, which has only slipped through their fingers twice before to Plainfield East.

“I feel like I did well, but this year was definitely more challenging for me because I have higher expectations for myself this year,” Savannah Kallan, junior, said.

Last year, Kallan joined other advanced journalism and yearbook students to compete at the journalism sectionals and advanced to state in review writing.

Winners of their events included sophomore Ella Preboy in yearbook caption writing, senior Cassady Cundari in editorial writing, and senior Andreanna Haritopoulos in both newspaper design and headline writing.

“It never gets any less nerve-wracking to sit there during awards, and I have learned to never underestimate my competition,” Cundari said. “I’m really excited that our team gets to keep the trophy for another year.”

This year’s journalism sectionals will take place on April 13 and those who place in the top three of their category will advance to the state competition on April 27.

Andreanna Haritopoulos is a member of the Minooka Journalism Team.