February 20, 2009
It’s a ‘three-peat’ for Memorial’s Academic Decathlon team
Posing after their third state title are members of the Academic Decathlon team at Memorial High School in Evansville: front row, Annie Baumer, Rachel Jochem, Logan Schmitt and Stephen Collins; back row, Zach Melloy, John Hodge, Jordan Longstaff, Steve Titus and Thomas DeCastra. Click for a larger version.
The academic decathlon team from Memorial High School in Evansville brought home its third consecutive state title, Feb. 14.
The rules call for all nine students to compete in the rigorous 10-category challenge that this year focused on the theme of Latin America. Students compete for individual awards and then those scores are tallied for overall team performance awards.
This year, Memorial placed first as a team in seven of the 10 categories: Language and Literature, Mathematics, Music, Social Science, Economics, Essay, and Superquiz.
Individually, Memorial students earned a total of 34 medals.
- In Art, Logan Schmitt earned bronze; Tom DeCastra and Zach Melloy, silver, and John Hodge, gold.
- In Interview, Rachel Jochem earned gold.
- In Language and Literature, Annie Baumer and Steven Titus won bronze, and John Hodge earned silver.
- In Mathematics, Steve Titus earned bronze; Tom DeCastra and John Hodge, silver; and Logan Schmitt placed gold.
- Music awards went to Tom DeCastra, Stephen Collins, and Steve Titus for bronze; Zach Melloy, silver; and John Hodge, gold.
- In speech, Rachel Jochem and Jordan Longstaff both earned silver. As a special honor, the judges chose Rachel’s speech for presentation at the showcase.
- Social Science awards went to Steve Titus, bronze; Tom Decastra and John Hodge, gold.
- In Economics, Stephen Collins placed silver, and John Hodge won gold.
- Essay awards went to Steve Titus and Rachel Jochem, both earning gold medals.
- In the Superquiz category, John Hodge won gold, Tom DeCastra and Logan Schmitt silver, and Steve Titus bronz.
The competition added an award this year, looking for the most improved decathaletes from regional scores to state scores. Two Memorial students won this award: Steve Titus and Stephen Collins.
In addition to the individual subject matter awards, the competition also looks for the top competitors across all 10 content areas. Overall medals were awarded to four Tigers: Steve Titus and Zach Melloy, bronze; Tom DeCastra, silver; and John Hodge, gold.
The team will continue its work, competing in the online National tournament in the spring.