SENIOR ANNIE LIANG has been nominated to represent Uni High in the 22nd annual Chicago Tribune Illinois High School All-State Academic Team scholarship competition.

High schools all across Illinois will be nominating one of their most outstanding students. The Tribune's panel of judges will narrow the field by dividing the state into seven regions and choosing 10 students from each region for a total of 70 finalists.

Just 10 of these students will be named to the team, and each will receive a $2,000 college scholarship from the Chicago Tribune Foundation.

Judges will look for academic achievement as well as extracurricular involvement and general well-roundedness. For example, among Liang's many accomplishments she was named a National Merit Semifinalist in September and has been a key player on Uni's chess team. She played volleyball and was a National AP Scholar.

In early May, the Sunday Tribune will feature articles about each of the team members along with the names and the high schools of the remaining 60 finalists.

If Liang becomes one of the 10 members of the Tribune All-State Academic Team, she would be the fifth Uni student to receive that honor since 1999.

Last year's Uni nominee was then-senior Katie Carmody, who was ultimately named to the team.

Other Uni students who made the team in recent years are Valerie Ross and Meera Sekar, who were selected in 2004 and 2001, respectively. Amy Chew was selected in 1999.

The team was created by Casey Banas, a now-deceased education writer from the Tribune, as a way of honoring students whose academic accomplishments are often overshadowed by the media attention given to all-star athletes.

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