Outstanding high school students and Marshall students in both Latin and writing competitions were recognized during the awards ceremony.
The Maier Latin Cup Awards were established in 1979 by William J. Maier Jr., father of former Maier Foundation President Ed Maier, to repay in some way the special attention his high school Latin teacher at Huntington High School showed him.
A high school graduate at the age of 16, William Maier received an award then given by West Virginia University, which named him the top Latin student in the state. He credited the extra devotion to Latin and Latin students by his teacher as having helped him secure a scholarship to Harvard College.
The Maier Latin Cup Awards celebrate publicly the best high school Latin students in West Virginia. They are administered by Marshall’s Department of Classics.
Also, Marshall’s Department of Classics sponsors the Maier Latin Scholarship, which is underwritten by the Maier Foundation. This $2,000 scholarship is intended to support the work of a student presently pursuing a Latin major at Marshall and who is enrolled in advanced Latin classes.
The William J. Maier writing awards were established in 1972 by William J. Maier Jr., in honor of his father. These awards, for excellence in writing, are presented annually to students enrolled in English classes at Marshall.
Here are the winners of this year’s Latin and writing awards:
Maier Latin Sight-Translation Contest
Latin I
First place: Yike Lu, The Linsly SchooI; teacher: Nicoletta Villa-Sella
Second place: Elijah Bowen, Harmon Academy; teacher: Lois Merritt
Third place: Megan Bailey, Cabell Midland High School; teacher: Gail Lewis
Latin II
First place: Somasundari Hannon, The Linsly School; teacher: Nicoletta Villa-Sella
Second place: Anastasia Cook, Soli Deo Gloria; teacher: Paul Heuton
Third place: Zach Sigler, Cabell Midland High School; teacher: Gail Lewis
Latin III
First place: Paige Walbert, The Linsly School; teacher: Nicoletta Villa-Sella
Second place: Christoph Hart, Charleston Catholic High School; teacher: Mathew Hale
Third place: Abigail Harman, Harmon Academy; teacher: Lois Merritt
Latin IV
First place: Sunna Kureishy, The Linsly School; teacher: Nicoletta Villa-Sella
Second place: Christie Wirts, Charleston Catholic High School; teacher: Matthew Hale
Third place: Nicholas Trent, Huntington High School; teacher: Amy McElroy
The 2016 Maier Latin Scholarship recipient, sponsored by the Marshall University Department of Classics, is Abigail Pullen (the Latin major with the most outstanding academic record for the 2015-2016 academic year).
The Maier Latin Cup Awards Competition
Winner: Madison Sheets, St. Albans High School; teacher: Melissa Agee
Runner-up: Jeffrey Richbart, Huntington High School; teacher: Amy McElroy
Second runner-up: Emma Huffman, St. Albans High School; teacher: Melissa Agee
Researched First-year writing
Judge: Professor Mallory Carpenter
First place: “Sylvia Plath: The Emergence of a Voice,” by Donna DeRosa; sponsor: Nicole Lawrence
Second place: “Time’s Arrow and Flight as Unnatural Fiction,” by Logan Fraley; sponsor: Mitchell Lilly
Third place: “Faith in fiction: Joss Whedon’s Not-So-Atheistic Portrayal of Christianity,” by Josh Knight; sponsor: Dreama Pritt
Non-Researched First-year writing
Judge: Mallory Carpenter
First place: “Shells,” by Breanne Thompson; sponsor: Stephanie Walker
Second place: “Manliness,” by Mike Waldeck; sponsor: Rebecca Childers
Third place: “Happy Endings,” by Lydia Waybright; sponsor: Daniel O’Malley
Upper-Division and Graduate Critical Writing
Judge: Dr. Lisa Crafton
First place: “An Afrofuturist Reading of Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming,” by Andrew Johnston; sponsor: Dr. Allison Carey
Second place: “Don’t let it in!”: A Feminist Psychoanalytic Interpretation of the Babdook,” by Jacqueline Turley; sponsor: Dr. Allison Carey
Third place:” Cyborg Ecology: The Post-Humanities and Ecological Sustainability,” by Amber Wright; sponsor: Dr. Kristen Lillvis.
Fiction
Judge: Rajia Hassib
First place: “Shakespeare,” by Jackson Armstrong; sponsor: Dr. Anthony Viola
Second place: “Lost and Found,” by Morgan Byrne; sponsor: Dr. Anthony Viola
Third place: “A Part from Judy,” by Nathan Rucker; sponsor: Dr. Anthony Viola
Poetry
Judge: Rajia Hassib
First place: “Road Trip,” by Katherine Norman; sponsor: Dr. Joel Peckham
Second place: “Homebody,” by Rob Engle; sponsor: Dr. Carrie Oeding
Third place: “Plenty of Doors,” by Rachael Knicely; sponsor: Dr. Carrie Oeding
Creative Nonfiction
Judge: Rajia Hassib
First place: “Staging Pleasure Island: Notes from Inside the Vacation-Dream Machine,” by Chase Adkins; sponsor: Dr. Rachael Peckham
Second place: “Church,” by Angelina Mingo; sponsor: Dr. Rachael Peckham
Third place: “Roots: Lessons from Landscape,” by Amber Wright; sponsor: Dr. Anthony Viola
Technical Workplace Writing
Judge: Dr. Harlan Smith
First place: “Cabell Wayne County Animal Shelter Issues,” by Alexander Smertneck and Kelly Parsons; sponsor: Joni Magnusson
Second place: Marshall University Bookstore: Overpriced,” by Kaitlyn Turley; sponsor: Joni Magnusson
Third place: “The Cost of College,” by Madison Silver; sponsor: Joni Magnusson
Multimedia
Judge: Laura Sonderman
First place: “Breaking Detachment: Making a Personal Connection to Mountaintop Mining,” by Alison Wickline; sponsor: Dr. Walter Squire
Second place: “A Braided Exegisis in African American Hair,” by Hailey Hughes; sponsors: Dr. Rachael Peckham and Dr. Walter Squire
Third place: “ ‘Is this really home?’: Sexual Assault on College Campuses,” by Mary-Kate Bostick; sponsors: Dr. Rachael Peckham and Dr. Walter Squire
—————–
Photos: (Above) Abigail Pullen, right, receives the 2016 Maier Latin Scholarship from Dr. Del Chrol. (Below) Madison Sheets, left, a student at St. Albans High School, accepts the Maier Latin Cup Award from Dr. Del Chrol. Photos by Rick Haye/Marshall University.