LCWM Academic Decathlon Team Places Second in State
Earns Trip to Nationals in Frisco, Texas
The LCWM Academic Decathlon team placed second overall at the state competition held February 18-20 at the Best Western Plus Conference Center in Shoreview, MN. Team scores were:
Avalon – 32,547.4 points
LCWM – 27,752.9 points
St. Peter – 21,002.9 points
Hiawatha Collegiate – 18,058.5 points
Avalon Alternates – 2,690.0 points
With LCWM placing second overall in the state, they will represent Minnesota at the national competition to be held April 24 – 30 in Frisco, Texas, as the Division IV (Wild Card) team. This will be LCWM’s 16 th appearance in a national Academic Decathlon competition. Past appearances include California in 1999, Alaska in 2001, Arizona in 2002, the medium school national online competition in 2008, the small school national online competition in 2010 and 2011, New Mexico in 2012, Minnesota in 2013, Hawaii in 2014, the small school national online competition in 2015, 2016, and 2017, Texas in 2018, Minnesota in 2019, and online in 2022. At the national competition, students will take written tests in art, economics, literature, math, music, science, and social science, present a prepared and impromptu speech, participate in an interview, and write an essay. They will also take part in the Super Quiz Relay which challenges students to work in groups to answer questions in a head-to-head quiz show format.
This year’s curriculum theme is “The American Revolution and the New Nation”. LCWM students will be competing for national medals as well as scholarships. Members of the LCWM team are:
Honors: Gabe Kietzer, Abby Groos, and Isabelle Wawrzynaik;
Scholastic: Christian Fells, Levi Lantz, and Abigail Buffington;
Varsity: Logan Anderson and Ethan Grannis.
Team coach is Billy James.
Team members earned 38 medals at the state competition. Every team member earned at least 1 medal.
- Abby Groos (honors): third in math, third in music, third in interview, and third in essay.
- Isabelle Wawrzynaik (honors): third in economics and first in speech
- Gabe Kietzer (honors): second in math, second in speech, and second in interview.
- Christian Fells (scholastic): third in literature, first in math, first in social science, second in art, first in science, first in music, second in economics, second in speech, third in interview, second in essay, and first overall.
- Abigail Buffington (scholastic): first in speech and first in interview.* Levi Lantz (scholastic): third in art.
- Ethan Grannis (varsity): second in literature, third in math, third in social science, third in art, first in science, second in music, first in interview, third in essay, and third overall.
- Logan Anderson (varsity): third in literature, third in math, third in social science, third in economics, first in speech, and second in interview.
The team’s highest scoring students in each division were: Abby Groos (honors) with 4,997.9 points, Christian Fells (scholastic) with 5,444.6 points, and Ethan Grannis (varsity) with 4,501.1 points. Christian Fells earned the most medals with 11, meaning that he earned a medal in every event.
There were a total of 11 individual state championships earned by LCWM students. These students were Christian Fells (5), Abigail Buffington (2), Ethan Grannis (2), Isabelle Wawrzynaik (1), and Logan Anderson (1).
Five students were selected from all of the state participants to present their speeches during the “Speech Showcase” event at the state awards ceremony. LCWM had two students in the Speech Showcase. These students were Abigail Buffington and Isabelle Wawrzynaik. Abigail’s speech topic was “A 16 Year Old Girl Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Walk Down the Street Alone” and Isabelle’s speech topic was “Drug Inequality”.
Logan Anderson was presented with a special plaque during the awards ceremony for being the only Academic Decathlon participant in the state of Minnesota with four years of experience.
The team wishes to thank parents, teachers, administrators, and the community for the continued support and interest in the program. Special thanks go to Tracy Meadows, Sue Ehlers, Karissa Hall, Alex Keilen, Michelle Bergstad, and Jenny McLeod for their help in preparing the students for competition.
