Quick decision-making does not appear to be a problem for Gianna McManaman.
A 5-foot-8 high school point guard from Pittsboro, North Carolina, McManaman received a scholarship offer Friday morning from the University of New Mexico women’s basketball team. Her commitment announcements hit social media less than an hour later.
Gianna McManaman, a sophomore high school guard in North Carolina, says she is coming to play at New Mexico in 2023. (Courtesy of Robert Sanchez)
McManaman, who graduates in 2023, had numerous other suitors and easily could have taken her time before verbally committing to a college program. Instead she pulled the trigger.
Monoson is the co-editor-in-chief of the West Henderson school newspaper, Wingspan. Judges noted her clarity and expressiveness in writing and design, as well as the quality and variety of sourcing.
Alternates for Journalist of the Year were Cassie Honeycutt of First Flight High School in Kill Devil Hills, Ella Sullivan of Northwood High School in Pittsboro and Tierney Reardon of J.H. Rose High School in Greenville.
Honeycutt is the co-editor-in-chief of her school’s newspaper, Nighthawk News Magazine; Sullivan is the co-editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, The Northwood Omniscient; and Reardon is the co-editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, Rampant Lines.