School Board honors State Champions

In 2018-2019 Walla Walla Public Schools started a new tradition of honoring state champion individuals and teams at a board meeting. Students and teams qualify for this recognition by finishing in the top three at state for athletics, music, drama, FFA, FBLA, debate, JROTC and any other state qualifying activities. This is an opportunity for these outstanding students to be recognized by the Superintendent and School Board. Here's who was honor June 4, 2024.

At Tuesday's board meeting SEATech students and their advisor Andrew Sayers were recognized for their success in the SkillsUSA - Media & Entertainment competition. In March, SEATech Career in Media students Soren Thomson and Sarah Jousma won the SkillsUSA State Title in Digital Cinema at Clover Park Technical College in Tacoma. In late June they will be representing Washington State in the National SkillsUSA Digital Film Contest Tournament in Atlanta Georgia.

SEATech students Olivia Shiffler and Natasha Kuschatka took second place in the Television Productions contest. The road to the State Leadership & Skills Conference is challenging. Students have to compete and place at regional contests to be invited to state events. This year over 20 students from SEATech signed up to compete in two regional contests, which includes students from Spokane school districts.

Digital Cinema Production - 1st Place
• Soren Thompson
• Sarah Jousma

Television Production - 2nd Place
• Olivia Shiffler
• Natasha Kuschatka

Walla Walla High School FFA State Horse Judging Team - advisor Jessica Johnson.

Participation in the Horse Evaluation CDE helps FFA members further develop their interest in equine selection, management and production, while simultaneously advancing teamwork, leadership and communication skills. Members demonstrate their ability to reason and communicate about equine science through a team problem-solving activity and individually evaluating classes composed of performance or halter horses. They then justify their selections through oral reasons.

Horse Judging Team - 2nd Place
• Alexis Jones
• Madison Worden
• Hanna Wright
• Teegan Timmons
• Ellie Ford
• Makenna Wright

Wa-Hi FFA Agriscience Teams - advisor Alyssa Drader.

On April 20, students Elizabeth Strickland, Amanda Tilley, Anneliese Treibwasser, and Makenna Wright presented their research findings at the Washington State FFA Agriscience Fair in Puyallup. Elizabeth and Anneliese presented their project on the impacts of school farms on students. Amanda and Makenna's presentation was focused on how moisture affects the nutritional value of hay. Each pair created poster boards which were used during their presentations in front of a panel of industry experts.

Agriscience Team - 1st Place
• Amanda Tilley
• Makenna Wright

Agriscience Team - 2nd Place
• Anneliese Triebwasser
• Elizabeth Strickland

Wa-Hi FFA First Year Member & Scrapbook Teams - advisor Jennifer Crane.

The First Year Member CDE provides an opportunity for our youngest FFA members to demonstrate their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success. Through a comprehensive exam on FFA and the agriculture industry, as well as a group problem-solving challenge, participants in this event learn what it takes to serve as leaders in their chapter and beyond. Members started practicing about two months prior to the event and were able to gain skills in group presentations and test taking. We took two teams to represent Walla Walla and team 1 made it through two rounds of tests and presentations. Sloane, Aaden, Kinzey, and Peyton did an incredible job!

An opportunity for chapters to create an annual pictorial record of their Program of Activities (POA), the Scrapbook event highlights originality, use of written materials and pictures, as well as neatness and conciseness. Members Tazie and Teegan were tasked with this large project back in August and took pictures throughout the year to showcase all the different activities of the chapter. They even got to include extra components including advisors and officers, and several other aspects that are true to the Walla Walla FFA Chapter.

First Year Member Team – 3rd Place
• Aaden Repoff
• Sloane Stemple
• Peyton Albert
• Kinzey Appleford

Scrapbook Team – 3rd Place
• Tazie Betzler
• Teegan Timmons

Walla Walla High School JROTC - advisor Mark Mebes.

WA State Civilian Marksmanship Program 3-Position Air Rifle Championship
Precision Class Team – 1st Place
• Hannah Goin
• Micah Vawter
• Claire Calvert

Cascade Mountain League JROTC Two-State Championship Rifle Match
Precision Class Team - 1st Place
• Evan Graham
• Micah Vawter
• Hannah Goin
• Chanze Martz
• Saphira Rynaski

Cascade Mountain League JROTC Two-State Championship Rifle Match
Sporter Class Team - 2nd Place
• Aviella Wilson
• Jaycee Cox
• Melissa Villegas
• Sofie Edwards
• Wyatt Block

Walla Walla High School Girls Track & Field WIAA 3A state championship team - head coach Eric Hisaw.

We had athletes score in 11 out of the 18 possible events when the Wa-Hi Girls won the State Championship a week and a half ago. It’s the first State Title in the modern area, as the last title was called the “Golden Invitational” and that was in 1970!

The girls scored 72.5 points, which was 12.5 more than 2nd place Mercer Island and it is the 8th highest point total ever in the 3A ranks to win a state title. The Blue Devils won 4 event State Titles, were 2nd in 3 other events, and placed in 4 more throughout the weekend.

The team was led by Ashlyn Nielsen, who is the only Wa-Hi athlete to ever win 4 state titles in one championship meet. Cami Martin and Jailyn Davenport were 2 more athletes that placed in 4 events as well, which is also in rare company! But this title was about TEAM, and not one person, and every girl would say this. It was about unselfishness, competitive desire and a genuine bond from these amazing ladies all season long to win the state championship. We couldn’t do it with just one person, it took them all…and they did it as friends and teammates that cared more about each other, than themselves.

This is the greatest Girls Track and Field team the school has ever had and it is one of the all-time greats in the state of Washington. Every bit of this was earned by them, by their hard work and dedication, when no one was watching!!

State Champions
• 100m Dash - Ashlyn Nielsen
• 200m Dash - Ashlyn Nielsen
• 4x100 Relay Adi Andrews, Jailyn Davenport, Cami Martin, Ashlyn Nielsen
*Alternates: Kirsten Anderson, Carly Martin, Lucy Forest
• 4x200 Relay Cami Martin, Jailyn Davenport, Carly Martin, Ashlyn Nielsen, Adi Andrews
*Alternates: Miriam Hutchens, Delilah Franssen, Kaela Eckel

2nd Place
• Triple Jump - Cami Martin
• Shot Put - Lillian White
• High Jump - Jailyn Davenport

Coaches
• Eric Hisaw
• Amy Hisaw - Sprint/Hurdles/Relays
• Scott Magnaghi - Shot Put
• Marianne Smith - High Jump
• Stacey Haveman - High Jump
• Keith Michels - Discus
• Michael Locati - Distance
• Josh Ashley - Pole Vault
• Linsey Haxby - Javelin
• Jon Abbey - Shot Put/Discus
• Ryan Lackey - Long/Triple Jump/Relays

Congratulations to all the students and advisors recognized Tuesday night!