By TOM DESTEFANO
Clarion News writer
The Clarion-Limestone Academic Decathlon team is off to Texas to compete in the national championships after winning the Pennsylvania state finals in the small school division March 10 at Clarion University.
“This is a big deal,” said decathlon coach Lorna Ondrasik. “This is a very big deal.”
C-L finished first among small schools and fifth overall with 38,979 points, and will travel to Frisco, Texas, near Dallas, on April 21.
“These kids worked so hard to get to this place,” Ondrasik said. “They work year-round on this, they work through the summer, too.”
The team first qualified to compete at the state finals only five years ago, and has improved its performance every year since, she said. “They set goals and they achieve them. They are just awesome kids. We’re pretty excited. Now there’s lots of paperwork, lots of things to do and lots of money to raise.”
C-L school board member Jamie Mahle attended the awards ceremony and said the funds for the airplane trip would be provided. “One way or another, we’ll make sure they get there,” he told the CLARION NEWS.
North Clarion team earns bronze medal in close finish at states
The North Clarion team finished third among small schools and ninth overall with 34,736 points, it was edged out of qualifying for the national online championships by just 140 points behind Penns Valley of Centre County.
Souderton High School near Philadelphia took first-place among large schools with 42,791 points, squeaking past Northwest Collegiate Academy of Erie by just five points.
Souderton will also travel Texas for the face-to face national competition.
Josh Martin of Souderton accomplished a rare feat: a perfect score of 1,000 on the math test and received a standing ovation.
“Who does that?” decathlon coordinator Michelle Schroeder asked, then answered “Josh Martin does that.”
Collegiate Academy and Seneca Valley will compete in a national online competition, as will Penns Valley in the small school division.
Local stars
C-L’s Katherine Melcher had one of the top nine scores at state finals and was the only one of the top nine from the small schools division. She brought home five gold and two bronze medals.
Andrew Forrest was a standout for C-L, bringing back six gold medals and a bronze and winning the most points in the scholastic division.
In the tough honors division, C-L’s Ian McNaughton won a silver and two bronze medals and placed second in total points.
In the honors division, North Clarion’s Mollie Cochran brought home a gold and a silver and placed fifth in total points and Dalton Brown won a silver and a bronze and place fifth.
Trevor Amsler won two golds and a silver in the scholastic division for North Clarion, and Aubree Kerle won three silver and two bronze medals and placed third in total points in the varsity division.
Medals and points
The academic decathlon has three divisions, allowing students at varying skill levels to compete. The honors division is for students with an A average, the scholastic division is for B-average students, and varsity is for C-average students.
At states, each school fields teams of three in each of the three divisions.
Clarion-Limestone
- Ian McNaughton, honors division silver in social science, bronze in music, bronze in economics, placed second in total points with 7,289.
- Reecie Boyles, honors division silver in speech, silver in interview, silver in math, placed fifth in total points with 6,705.
- Christian Smith, honors division placed sixth in total points with 6,662.
- Andrew Forrest, scholastic division gold in music, gold in literature, gold in art, gold in science, gold in economics, bronze in math, placed first in total points with 6,641.
- Greyson Knepp, scholastic division silver in essay, silver in speech, bronze in literature, placed second in total points with 6,030.
- Mitchell Knepp, scholastic division gold in interview, silver in literature, bronze in speech, placed fourth in total points with 5,910.
- Katharine Melcher, varsity division gold in music, gold in literature, gold in art, gold in economics, gold in social science, bronze in speech, bronze in science, placed first in overall points with 6,450.
- Tre Haines, varsity division gold in speech gold in interview, silver in art, silver in economics, bronze in music, placed second in total points with 5,864.
- Katelyn Clover, varsity division placed 13th in total points with 4,096.
North Clarion
- Mollie Cochran, honors division gold in essay, silver in math, placed fifth in overall points with 6,555.
- Dalton Brown, honors division silver in essay, bronze in music, bronze in math, placed sixth in total points with 6,463.
- Diane Albright honors division placed 19th in total points with 4,992.
- Lia Evans, scholastic division bronze in literature, placed seventh in total points with 5,693.
- Trevor Amsler, scholastic division gold in speech, gold in interview, silver in math, placed eighth in total points with 5,607.
- Averi Schwabenbauer, scholastic division silver in arts, bronze in essay, placed tenth in total points with 5,272.
- Aubree Kerle, varsity division silver in essay, silver in math, silver in science, bronze in literature, bronze in art, placed third in total points with 5,646.
- Piper Deese, varsity division silver speech, placed eighth in total points with 4,772.
- Andrew Ochs, varsity division bronze in essay, placed 12th in total points with 4,372.
Team scores
Here are the scores of the top nine finishers at state finals. L indicates large schools, S indicates small schools.
1. Souderton (L) 42,791. 2. Collegiate Academy (L) 42,786. 3. Seneca Valley (L) 41,479. 4. McDowell (L) 39,133. 5. Clarion Limestone (S) 38.979. 6. Carlisle (L) 35,969. 7. Penn Valley (S) 34,876. 8. North Penn (L) 34,864. 9. North Clarion (S) 34,736.