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Local students win decathlon awards
By Denver Catholic Register
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| Photo by Bill Kehrman St. Mary School in Littleton decathlon team members pose with head coach, Mayo Watson, far right. Students, from left: Cameron Schimmoller, Derek Haase, Caroline McCleod, Emily Dryden, Amativ Rahman, Thomas Samson, Grant Adams, Ryleigh Akridge, Riley O’Connell, Corrin Murphy. |
For the first time, a Catholic school of the Denver Archdiocese participated in the annual Junior High Decathlon held May 7 in Sacramento, Calif.
Although the team, St. Mary School of Littleton, didn’t win one of the top awards, eighth-grader Emily Dryden won a first place in the individual religion competition and eighth-grader Derek Haase won a second place in the individual current events competition.
“That was miraculous,” said Mayo Watson, a junior high teacher at St. Mary’s who served as head decathlon coach for the team. He added, “We knew our religion and current events.”
Other students on the St. Mary team were Thomas Samson, Cameron Schimmoller, Caroline McLeod, Amitav Rahman, Ryleigh Akridge, Riley O’Connell, Grant Adams and Corrin Murphy.
St. Mary’s was the only school outside California that participated in the decathlon.
“We made it a ‘national’ competition,” Watson said with chuckle. “There were 10 teams there, nine were from California.”
St. Mary’s won their competitor’s slot by winning the inaugural Junior High Decathlon held in the Denver Archdiocese on March 5. Students from seven other local schools—Guardian Angels, Annunciation, St. Bernadette in Lakewood, St. Pius X in Aurora, St. Louis in Englewood, Sts. Peter and Paul in Wheat Ridge and Notre Dame—competed against St. Mary’s in the event held at the Littleton school.
In the decathlon, students demonstrate their academic prowess in two team events—a Logic Quiz and a Super Quiz—and eight individual events: English, current events, fine arts, literature, math, religion, science and social studies.
“The decathlon is a way our young adults can challenge their minds to achieve new levels of excellence,” explained Mark Strawbridge, principal of St. Pius X School. “This popular event within our archdiocese and throughout the state of California is indeed good news to be shared with the public.”
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