Standing on the football field at Pridgeon Stadium, five senior men and five senior women waited, smiling at the crowd, to find out who would be crowned Homecoming King and Queen.

Homecoming King nominees and seniors were Otara Alaka, Skylar Bradshaw, Tre’lan McCray, Dominic Thornton, and Denzel Winters, and Queen nominees were Gabby Bradshaw, Miana Cunningham, Yanelly Lerma, Lani Nguyen, and Madison Tipping.

“I didn’t really know, but I thought I had a good chance because I’m in football, and they usually want to see the people in football and band,” Alaka said. A star of the team, he was crowned king that night.

Lani Nguyen, a drum major in the band, was crowned queen. “It is a great honor and it is really nice to know that a lot of people voted for me,” Nguyen said. Echoing Otaro’s words, Lani said she won because of band. “I honestly won because of my band class mates,” Nguyen said.

However, Nguyen believes, “it is very important that you know people, and because I talk to not only seniors but other classes as well, I had a chance at actually winning.”

For Alaka, winning the crown was bittersweet. “I felt happy…kind of. I didn’t really feel that good since we were getting blown out so it was kind of a weird feeling,” Alaka said. The Eagles lost 42-0 to the Cypress Ridge Rams.