LAKEPORT, Calif. – After a grueling Saturday of tests and quizzes, Upper Lake High and Willits High School won the right to represent Lake and Mendocino counties, respectively, at the California Academic Decathlon.
The Lake and Mendocino County Academic Decathlon was held Saturday at Clear Lake High School's Marge Alakszay Center.
Upper Lake High School won the Lake County championship for the second year in a row and will advance to the state competition in Sacramento next month, along with Willits High School, returning this year to the combined Lake and Mendocino competition for the first time since 2012.
In the Lake County portion of the competition, Middletown placed second and Clear Lake High School Team One finished third. Kelseyville High and one other Clear Lake High team also were in the running.
At Saturday's event, Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg called the participating students and coaches “outstanding.”
Also acknowledged on Saturday were the administrators – in particular, the superintendents and principals – of the participating schools for their efforts to support the Academic Decathlon.
Portions of the competition had begun last month, with the Academic Decathlon culminating in Saturday afternoon's Super Quiz, which the public was invited to attend.
Herman Hughes, a retired Navy captain, college professor and pastor, led the teams through 36 questions on this year's topic, World War II, during the Super Quiz, which Clear Lake High School Team One won.
After the tallying of all the results, however, Upper Lake had come back for a repeat.
Before the final team awards were given, the top finishers in the speech competition – Kaitlyn Salata from Kelseyville High, in second place, and Jack Shrive of Middletown High, in first place – gave their winning speeches. Salata remembered her grandfather, and Shrive discussed advances in technology.
After the winning teams were announced, Upper Lake Coach Anna Sabalone said she was surprised – but in a good way – by the competition's outcome.
“We knew it was going to be close,” she said.
Angel Hayenga, who coaches alongside Sabalone, said this year they were blessed with the same kind of wild and crazy youngsters who they bring to the competition every year.
Also helping coach and comfort the team is Christal Coatney, who called herself the “co-co-coach” or the team's eccentric aunt.
Upper Lake Superintendent Patrick Iaccino called Saturday's repeat win for his team a “nice way to retire.”
Iaccino, who retires at the end of the school year, recalled his first Academic Decathlon 11 years ago, when Upper Lake – which had held onto the title at that point for several years in a row – had lost.
Since then, the school has remained a steady contender. Even through tough economic times for the school, Iaccino said there was never pressure to cut the Academic Decathlon program, which is a class at Upper Lake High.
“These are the programs that you have to keep,” he said, adding that the Mock Trial competition and robotics also fall into that group. Iaccino said it's important to find such programs for all students.
Keeping it as a class is important, said Iaccino, because the students involved also participate in a lot of other activities. If it was simply left for them to meet after school, they would have to choose between that and other commitments – such as sports or other clubs.
Iaccino called his Academic Decathlon team “just a wonderful group of kids,” who come from a wide spectrum of backgrounds.
Their parents also are very involved. “We have such supportive, amazing parents,” said Hayenga.
The students themselves devote countless hours to work and study necessary to succeed at the Academic Decathlon, a competition which Iaccino said is fun to watch.
Hayenga lauded Iaccino for his commitment to the program. “He has been our No. 1 fan.”
The team's top scorer this year was Casey Herman, who also had the most medals, seven, on the Upper Lake team. A senior, this is Herman's second year in the competition.
Asked why she stuck with such a demanding event, before she could answer, another young woman called out, “She's good at it.”
“I think it's a fun experience,” said Herman, who added that her Academic Decathlon classmates are her family.
Sabalone, who was preparing to go out to dinner with her team, said the Academic Decathlon class had been promised a movie day on Monday, and afterward were going to get to work preparing for the state competition, which takes place at the end of March.
Once they get the scoring from the Saturday competition, Sabalone said they will be able to look at areas where they need to strengthen their performance ahead of the state event, which a lot of the team members are looking forward to participating in for the first time.
The full results of this year's Academic Decathlon are shown below.
TEAM ROSTERS
Clear Lake High School
Superintendent: Erin Smith-Hagberg
Principal: David Chamberlain
Coach: Kristi Tripp
Team: Brenden Allen, Kaitlyn Avila, Miah Bullard, Alexis Burke, Michael Camacho, Candace Clayton, Zoe Cramer, Anna DelBosco, Dustin Domagalski, Dominik Helms, Brent Hinchcliff, Kyle Jensen, Subhagya Joshi, Christopher Lasher, Carina Martinez Lopez, Clinton Mather, Isabella Mattina, Courtney McIntosh, Nicolette Norcio, Anahy Olmedo, Sarah Pope, Nicolette Rivera, Felix Salinas,
Andrew Scott, Connor Simons
Kelseyville High School
Superintendent: Dave McQueen
Principal: Matt Cockerton
Coaches: Erick Larsen and Heather Koschik
Team: Andrew Aceves, Samantha Darnell, Kelsie Engle, Cassidy Holmes, Christina Jimenez, Kyle Keener, Artem Laptiev, Sienna Longoria, Anna Pak, Megan Petersen, Tiara Richards, Merin Rixen, Savannah Rodriguez, Kaitlyn Salata, Hannah Smith, Nichole Stevens
Middletown High School
Superintendent: Catherine Stone
Principal: Bill Roderick
Coach: Jeff Mielke
Team: Robert Carey, Tyler Chorjel, Ella Dunsford, Donald Elder, Diana Espinoza, Carissa Forest, Olivia Glosser, Rachel Harvey, Ashley Hediger, Justin Hingston, Beckett Hoage, Moyra Horrell-Pyzer, Alixe Olson, Gary Pickrell, Jack Shrive, Colton Soderling, James Stalker
Upper Lake High School
Superintendent: Pat Iaccino
Principal: Sandy Coatney
Coaches: Anna Sabalone, Angel Hayenga, Christal Coatney
Team: Cyndal Ader, Daniela Estrada Flores, Jeff Fannon, Megan Franco, Casey Herman, Miranda Huntley, Anisha Kalan, Kehlani McKelvey, Katlyn Minnis, Cristal Nieves, Rue Owen, Elizabeth Rosas Moreno, Breanna Sanchez, Maria Tinoco, Sarah Williams, Jack Wurm
Willits High School
Superintendent: Mark Westerburg
Principal: Robert Chavez
Coach: Mary Colvig
Team: Katelyn Abernathy, Jace Atalig, Aiden Bertolino Haley, Oliver Campuzano, Hanna Corey, Eduardo Escobedo, Ryann Hee, Mychaela Nowlin, Tachyna Renick, Cheyanne Turner, Alisabeth Wilcox, Miranda Wilson
TEAM PLACEMENT
Lake County
First place: Upper Lake High School, 33,330 points
Second place: Middletown High School, 31,463 points
Third place: Clear Lake High School, Team One, 30,911 points
Mendocino County
First place: Willits High School
AWARDS
Poster contest
First place: Breanna Sanchez, Upper Lake High School
Second place: Isabella Mattina, Clear Lake High School
Third place: Shannon Fronsman, Clear Lake High School
The Lake County Arts Council provided awards of $25, $15 and $10, respectively, for the three top finishers.
Poetry contest
First place: Kehlani McKelvey, Upper Lake High School
Second place: Isabella Mattina, Clear Lake High School
Third place: Subhagya Joshi, Clear Lake High School
The Lake County Arts Council provided awards of $25, $15 and $10, respectively, for the three top finishers.
Super Quiz
First place: Clear Lake High School Team One
Second place: (tie) Clear Lake High School Team Two, Middletown High School
Third place: Willits High School
Language and literature
First place: Christopher Lasher, Clear Lake High School
Second place: Casey Herman, Upper Lake High School
Third place: Miranda Huntley, Upper Lake High School
Art
First place: Zoe Cramer, Clear Lake High School
Second place: Maria Tinoco, Upper Lake High School
Third place: Anisha Kalan, Upper Lake High School
Social science
First place: Casey Herman, Upper Lake High School
Second place: Anisha Kalan, Upper Lake High School
Third place: Jack Shrive, Middletown High School
Math
First place: Christopher Lasher, Clear Lake High School
Second place: (tie) Alexis Burke, Clear Lake High School; Kaitlyn Avila, Clear Lake High School
Third place: Subhagya Joshi, Clear Lake High School
Music
First place: Michael Camacho, Clear Lake High School
Second place: (tie) Maria Tinoco, Upper Lake High School; Kaitlyn Avila, Clear Lake High School
Third place: Casey Herman, Upper Lake High School
Economics
First place: Megan Franco, Upper Lake High School
Second place: Casey Herman, Upper Lake High School
Third place: (tie) Justin Hingston, Middletown High School; Jack Shrive, Middletown High School
Science
First place: Felix Salinas, Clear Lake High School;
Second place: (tie) Subhagya Joshi, Clear Lake High School; James Stalker, Middletown High School
Third place: Nicolette Rivera, Clear Lake High School
Essay
First place: Subhagya Joshi, Clear Lake High School
Second place: Moyra Horrell-Pyzer, Middletown High School
Third place: Miranda Wilson, Willits High School
Interview
First place: (tie) Anisha Kalan, Upper Lake High School; Ryann Hee, Willits High School
Second place: (tie) Moyra Horrell-Pyzer, Middletown High School; Isabella Mattina, Clear Lake High School
Third place: (tie) Hanna Corey, Willits High School; Megan Franco, Upper Lake High School
Mendo Lake Credit Union sponsored the interview contest, with awards of $125, $75 and $50 for the first, second and third place finishers, respectively.
Speech
First place: Jack Shrive, Middletown High School
Second place: Kaitlyn Salata, Kelseyville High School
Third place: Justin Hingston, Middletown High School
TOP FINISHERS FOR EACH ACADEMIC LEVEL
Honors category (3.75-4.00 grade point average)
First place: Christopher Lasher, Clear Lake High School
Second place: Anisha Kalan, Upper Lake High School
Third place: Kaitlyn Avila, Clear Lake High School
Scholastic category (3.00-3.74 GPA)
First place: Casey Herman, Upper Lake High School
Second place: Megan Franco, Upper Lake High School
Third place: Miranda Huntley, Upper Lake High School
Varsity category (2.99 GPA or below)
First place: Miranda Wilson, Willits High School
Second place: James Stalker, Middletown High School
Third place: Nicolette Rivera, Clear Lake High School
SECOND HIGHEST SCORING STUDENTS, PER SCHOOL
Clear Lake High School: Kaitlyn Avila
Kelseyville High School: Tiara Richards
Middletown High School: Justin Hingston
Upper Lake High School: Anisha Kalan
Willits High School: Ryann Hee
HIGHEST SCORING STUDENTS, PER SCHOOL
Clear Lake High School: Christopher Lahser
Kelseyville High School: Merin Rixen
Middletown High School: Jack Shrive
Upper Lake High School: Casey Herman
Willits High School: Miranda Wilson
The Lodge at Blue Lakes provided $100 scholarships for each of the schools' top-scoring students, along with additional gift certificates to the lodge.
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