After “The Amish Project” won the first round of the Winter One Act competition, it fell short of qualifying for State at Sections Feb. 2, according to theater director Jodi Hatzenbeller.

“We performed very well, and got third place. The Academy of Holy Angels took first, and then second place (was) Washburn High School,” Hatzenbeller said.

Freshman cast member Shira Hanovich said although the theater company felt satisfied with their performance, they were frustrated with the results.

“We are proud of ourselves for what we did,” Hanovich said. “Everyone wanted to win, so (the results were) a little disappointing.”

According to senior crew member Rachel Mattson, despite the disappointing results, the show was overall a success.

“Personally that was our best performance we ever did. A lot of the actors put a lot of emotion into their part,” Mattson said. “It was phenomenal. It wasn’t for the judges, but for us, it was amazing.”

Hatzenbeller said the cast had to adapt to a new performance environment at Sections.

“The Sections stage, at the Academy of Holy Angels, is about half the width of ours and half the depth,” Hatzenbeller said. “We made a lot of adjustments to adapt to the space that is smaller in stature but bigger and harder to fill with your voice.”

According to Hatzenbeller, one of the highlights of Sections is being able to see outstanding shows from several schools.

“We get to see some of the best performances in the state really; we have one of the top sections. We see some quality work and some types of plays we never thought of before,” Hatzenbeller said.

Hanovich said the tight-knit theater community at Park makes performing shows and competing enjoyable — no matter what the results are.

“It was fun because you get to hang out with a bunch of theater kids for eight hours, and then everyone is just tired and loopy, which is always fun,” Hanovich said.