Wylie High’s UIL Social Studies team appeared in our December 2023 issue for placing second in the state for an impressive performance in the first virtual challenge meet of the season. Well, it wasn’t just by chance. They really are just that good!
Team members Anthony Tovar, Ella McClung, Crisha Manuseto (all seniors) and Canyon South (sophomore) have maintained an extremely strong performance throughout the season. Recently, the team was crowned the Best of Texas Champion and the 5A State Champion at the Best of Texas contest. According to Mr. Dowell, Wylie’s UIL Social Studies coach, this title is an impressive feat with more than 50 teams and 250 individuals competing this year.
“This contest determines a winner by combining the team scores from across three rounds of competition,” said Dowell. “Wylie was the only team to have a combined score greater than 600 points, and all Wylie students placed in the Top Ten in their respective divisions.”
Tovar placed first in both 5A and 12th grade and was named the Overall Individual State Champion. Manuseto placed second in both 5A and 12th grade and placed third in the state. McClung placed eighth in 5A and fifth in 12th grade; and Canyon South placed fifth in 5A and first in 10th grade.
Dowell said this team is the most competitive team he has seen in Wylie in over a decade, and his veteran team member Tovar agrees. Tovar, who has competed all four years, believes this is the best team he has been on and that the internal competition has been key to their success.
“We are competitive with each other and passionate about beating one another,” said Tovar. He said not only do they try to outperform each other, but that they are comparable in skill set and dedication to succeed.
Additionally, Tovar and South participated in the Region 14 Texas Citizen Bee, held March 26-27. Tovar placed first and moved on to compete against 20 other regions at the Texas State Citizen Bee competition in Austin. South placed second at the regional meet.
At the time of printing, the team was heading to the UIL State Social Studies competition.
By Kristen Johnson
Photo By G. Dowell