The Academic Decathlon of Central Pennslyvania had its first meet of the school year last Thursday at Montoursville Area High School. Students competed in Essay, Art, Literature, and Social Science.
Members of Montoursville’s team competed against other AcDec teams from schools across central Pennsylvania, including Carlisle, Glendale, Moshannon Valley, Mount Caramel, Penns Valley, Phillipsburg-Osceola, South Williamsport, and Warrior Run.
Montoursville came in 3rd place out of 8 teams. The medal winners are below.
Honors Division
Senior Addison Confer – Gold in Art
Scholastic Division
Senior Naomi Zeigler – Silver in Literature and Social Science, Bronze in Essay and Art, Bronze medal for overall score
Varsity Division
Junior Reese Peterson – Gold in Essay, Literature, and Social Science, Gold medal for overall score
Sophomore Noah Smith – Gold in Social Science, Bronze in Art
Sophomores Wesley Foster, Emily Gladu, Reagan Gonzalez, Morgan Hood, and Alex Martyniuk, and freshmen Addison Beck, Nadia Farenish, and Eva Farquharson competed from Montoursville.
“I think we did well,” said Academic Decathlon Coach Mitch Hart about the meet. “It was a good learning experience for the team, especially for new members.”
Academic Decathlon Senior Team Captain Naomi Zeigler said the team did “very well.” She thinks that everyone “worked very hard” and she’s proud.
Students shared if they felt prepared and why.
Zeigler said that she felt prepared because she studied well.
Academic Decathlon Junior Team Captain Reese Peterson said that he “felt pretty good since [he] usually goes to practices and learns.”
A meet will be held at Philipsburg-Osceola Senior High School on Jan. 9 and a Regional Meet at Penns Valley on January 31.
“Now that they’ve done one meet, they’re anxious for the next,” Hart said when asked about the upcoming meet on Jan. 9.
Peterson said, “A lot of newer members got a taste of what meets are like, so I’m hopeful we’ll do better next time.”
The easiest subject for Peterson was Essay, he said. The hardest was Social Science.
Academic Decathlon holds practices after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 to 5:00. This year’s theme is Our Changing Climate.
Featured image (at top): Academic Decathlon poses for a team photo after the meet. The team placed third overall in the competition, which was at the high school.
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