![With the AISD rank and GPA discrepancies, some students had significant changes to their stats. College and career counselor Camille Nix worked with students to appeal their college decisions if they got rejected from schools depending on their previous stats before getting updated. Students worked with Nix to update schools on their new stats in order to fully get their appropriate decisions. “Those who already were accepted [won’t be affected], but it could factor in if a student appeals their initial decision,” Principal Andy Baxa said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/53674616658_18d367e00f_o-1200x676.jpg)
![Junior Mia Milicevic practices her forehand at tennis practice with the WJ girls tennis team. “Sometimes I don’t like [tennis] because you’re alone but most of the time, I do like it for that reason because it really is just you out there. I do experience being part of a team at WJ but in tournaments and when I’m playing outside of school, I like that rush when I win a point because I did it all by myself, Milicevic said. (Courtesy Mia Milicevic)](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/c54807e1-6ab6-4b0b-9c65-bfa256bc7587.jpg)
![The Jaguar student section sits down while the girls basketball team plays in the Great Eight game at the Denver Coliseum against Valor Christian High School Feb. 29. Many students who participated in the boys basketball student section prior to the girls basketball game left before half-time. I think it [the student section] plays a huge role because we actually had a decent crowd at a ranch game. I think that was the only time we had like a student section. And the energy was just awesome, varsity pointing and shooting guard Brooke Harding ‘25 said. I dont expect much from them [the Golden Boys] at all. But the fact that they left at the Elite Eight game when they were already there is honestly mind blowing to me.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IMG_7517-e1716250578550-900x1200.jpeg)
![BACKGROUND IN THE BUSINESS: Dressed by junior designer Kaitlyn Gerrie, senior Chamila Muñoz took to the “Dreamland” runway this past weekend. While it was her first time participating in the McCallum fashion show, Muñoz isn’t new to the modeling world.
I modeled here and there when I was a lot younger, maybe five or six [years old] for some jewelry brands and small businesses, but not much in recent years,” Muñoz said.
Muñoz had hoped to participate in last year’s show but couldn’t due to scheduling conflicts. For her senior year, though, she couldn’t let the opportunity pass her by.
“It’s [modeling] something I haven’t done in a while so I was excited to step out of my comfort zone in a way,” Muñoz said. “I always love trying new things and being able to show off designs of my schoolmates is such an honor.”
The preparation process for the show was hectic, leaving the final reveal of Gerrie’s design until days before the show, but the moment Muñoz tried on the outfit, all the stress for both designer and model melted away.
“I didn’t get to try on my outfit until the day before, but the look on Kaitlyn’s face when she saw what she had worked so hard to make actually on a model was just so special,” Muñoz said. “I know it meant so much to her. But then she handed me a blindfold and told me I’d be walking with it on, so that was pretty wild.”
Caption by Francie Wilhelm.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/53535098892_130167352f_o-1200x800.jpg)
Del Val sophomore, Kadence Melamud, has qualified for the Junior Open Agility World Championship (JOAWC). The event is run by the World Canine Organization, which is the largest international federation of kennel clubs. This year, the competition will be taking place in Opglabbeek, Belgium from July 18-21.
“It’s basically Olympic-level competitions, but there is a lot more at stake than a normal trial,” Melamud said.
The sport of agility consists of directing your dog through a series of obstacles within a certain time limit. Courses will typically have between 14-20 obstacles which could include weave poles, tunnels, seesaws and pause tables. All breeds, including mixed, and all sizes can participate in agility.
Thousands of handlers applied to be accepted into this competition, but this year only 26 of them were accepted, representing 19 states across the country.
For this competition, it is not all just about winning. Just getting accepted in and being able to compete is an accomplishment.
It’s basically Olympic-level competitions, but there is a lot more at stake than a normal trial.
— Kadence Melamud
“Training daily and traveling the world to compete at the highest level of dog agility takes mental and physical skills, dedication, commitment and heart,” American Kennel wrote in a Facebook post.
The process of applying for the competition is rigorous. It requires teams to apply for specific titles, including the Open Agility and Open Agility Jumper, at the time of application, and to meet the ISC course requirement. In addition, each dog must earn a certain amount of points in various categories to qualify. The qualification window was March 15, 2023 through Feb. 15, 2024.
“There is a checklist of certain titles your dog has to get,” Melamud said. “Once you’ve done that, you have to send in videos that they [judges] will evaluate.”
This year, the judges of the competition include Anja Diels and Frank Gers of Belgium, Jari Suomalainen of Finland and former 2023 AWC judge Karel Havlíček of the Czech Republic. Teams are judged based on the time it takes them to complete the course, faults and points.
Many different actions could result in a fault, some of them including missing a weave pole, failing to place a foot in the contact zone or knocking a bar down on a jump. If a team receives five faults, it is disqualified.
Scoring will differ based on the class in which the team is competing in. Some classes include Novice, Standard, Jumpers With Weaves and Master. The Master Class is the highest level in which a handler and their dog can compete in. In AKC’s regulations for agility trials, those competing in the Master Class will be judged more strictly than those competing in the Standard Class.
Trainers must compete at the Master Class Level to look at qualifying and being picked for the Worlds team.
Melamud qualifying to compete in an event like this demonstrates her mastery of the craft. This has been a huge achievement for her, and Del Val will be rooting for her when she goes to compete in July.
“Being one of the people out of everyone that applied, even getting picked for the team is big in itself,” Melamud said. “Even if you don’t win anything great while you’re there, it’s still really cool that you made it.”
This story was originally published on The Delphi on March 27, 2024.
