Vernon Hills’ Tran earns academic all-state honor
Vernon Hills senior Alli Tran was one of 26 students selected to the 2012-13 all-state academic team sponsored by Caterpillar, the Illinois High School Association announced Monday.
The 13 male and 13 female honorees of the IHSA’s top academic honor were chosen from a group that included over 450 students throughout the state.
“This is a tremendous honor and I hope every student who was nominated takes a great deal of pride in all that they have accomplished,” IHSA executive director Marty Hickman said. “These students are the embodiment of what it means to take advantage of the entire high school experience. I am thankful to Caterpillar for providing the all-state academic team platform to honor and congratulate them.”
Every IHSA member school was invited to nominate one female student and one male student by the February deadline. Nominees needed to possess a minimum 3.50 grade-point average on 4.0 scale after their seventh semester, have participated in at least two IHSA-sponsored sports or activities during each of the last two years and demonstrated outstanding citizenship.
The nominations were evaluated by a committee made up of IHSA principals, representatives of the Illinois Activities Directors Association and representatives of the Illinois Athletic Directors Association. One male winner and one female winner from each of the seven IHSA board of directors divisions were selected initially, while the final 12 spots on the team were then rounded out with at-large candidates from any division in the state.
The all-state academic team members will be honored at a banquet at the Doubletree Hotel in Bloomington on April 15.
Tran competed in the state gymnastics meet at Palatine on Friday and Saturday. After tying for eighth in the all-around Friday, she advanced to the finals on vault and tied for sixth. She also qualified for state on the uneven bars and floor exercise.
In the Class 2A state track and field meet last spring, she anchored the Cougars’ medal-winning 1,600-meter (second) and 800-meter (fifth) relays and placed seventh in the long jump.