TEMPLE, Texas — The Temple High School UIL Academics Team posted a strong showing at the District 12-6A Meet last weekend, finishing in third place in the team standings, winning three individual district titles and qualifying multiple students for the Regional competition later this month.
Temple High School’s Aryan Guleria won first place in the mathematics competition, Genevieve Allen took first place in literary criticism, and Avery Morris added a first-place finish in prose interpretation at the district meet. Those three students will all advance to the regional competition after winning district championships. Other students qualifying to advance to regionals based on their district finish are Allen in ready writing, Olivia Blankenship and Avery Tarbet in poetry interpretation, Lauren Porter in prose interpretation, and Malachi Mejias-Treadwell in spelling.
“I was really excited because I wasn’t expecting to finish that high,” Guleria, a sophomore at Temple High School said of his first-place finish. “I thought I might place because I had worked really hard to prepare. Being able to do all of these events will help me in my math and science classes. I can understand concepts faster and that will help me later on in life. This is also a really good resume builder as I start applying to colleges.”
In addition to the regional qualifiers, a number of Temple High School students are alternates for regionals based on their district finish. Allen is an alternate in both journalism and spelling, Kiersten Waworuntu is also an alternate in journalism, Vihaan Murthy is an alternate in number sense, Kadyn Alley is an alternate in poetry interpretation, and Major Linzy is an alternate in prose interpretation. The science team made up of Aryan Guleria, Vihaan Murthy, Myrapaz San Juan, and Reeva Guleria is also an alternate, with Aryan Guleria also adding a second-place finish in biology and a fourth-place overall finish in science to make him an alternate in both of those competitions. The calculator team comprised of Aryan Guleria, Jazlyn Alexander, Malachi Mejias-Treadwell, and Vihaan Murthy is also an alternate for the regional contest.
The Temple High School UIL Academics Team finished in third place in the team standings at the district meet with 213 total points. THS Math Teacher and UIL Academics Coordinator Tyler Parker is in his third year in that position. During that time, he has seen the Temple HS UIL Academics Team improve in scoring and placement each year and the team has more than doubled its point total over those three years. He also hopes the student’s experiences will stick with them even after graduation.
“It feels fantastic to continue to see the way this team has progressed over that time,” Parker said. “The students are preparing themselves for the future. They are distinguishing themselves from their peers, building their resume, and learning for the sake of learning. We have worked to get students to go out and compete as a team and build an identity as the Temple High School UIL Academics Team. I really want them to build cherished memories that they can look back on and enjoy and hopefully continue to support the school from the outside.”
The UIL Academics Regional Contest will be held April 25-26th at Baylor University in Waco.