All Lubbock ISD High School Academic Decathlon Qualify for State

Leslie Adami

8 years ago

Over the weekend at the regional competition, all five Lubbock I.S.D high school Academic Decathlon teams qualified for a spot at the state meet.

Although a huge accomplishment for the district overall, but especially so for the Monterey High School Academic Decathlon team who was able to a new school record with 46, 737 points. They’ve qualified for state in the past, but truly feel a win is in their grasp this year. If they take the state title, then they will have been the first team to do it in the school’s history.

“For us to go out to the metroplex and see a lot more schools, 21 total at the meet, it was a little bit different experience for us, and to have the Lubbock schools dominate the way we did, Monterey being able to be first,” said Garrett Luft, advanced academic coordinator for secondary schools for LISD.

“Lubbock high usually sets the standard in Acadec and we’re always right there, this is one of the first times the Monterey kids have been able to beat Lubbock High, but regardless of that, and overall both schools were so far ahead of everyone else there. It was a very dominant showing by the Monterey kids, and really by the LISD kids in general,” said Luft.

The Plainsmen team was able to take home more than 40 medals total. On the team are two brothers, twins Jason and Cameron Sharp, who have helped turn racking up medals for the program into a bit of a family tradition.

Their two older brothers also competed for the school’s Academic Decathlon team, and they’re excited to continue keeping it in the family, while of course sharing the honor with their team members who have all been studying since last May.

“I always admired what my older brothers did and when I was first asked to join the academic decathlon,I was kind of terrified, because I had known how much work was put in and that was really hard, but man it’s so fun, and I really enjoy it and so it’s awesome just to see why they enjoyed it so much,” said Jason Sharp.

“We’ve got some really great kids that are going to be coming up again next year and hopefully passing even this, so I want to hear news when I’m asked next year that we’re doing even better than they we were this year.”

The medium- and small-school state meet will be February 24-25 in El Paso.

(LISD PRESS RELEASE)

The Monterey High School team earned their state berth by winning the Region 8 medium-school Academic Decathlon competition in Arlington. The Plainsmen set a school record with 46,737 points, edging out the Lubbock High team total of 46,000 points. The Monterey team also won gold in the Super Quiz event at the meet, with the Lubbock High and Coronado teams coming in second and third, respectively.

Coronado, Lubbock High and Talkington all qualified for state as a result of their top-30 scores across all medium-school teams in Texas. The Talkington team earned a state berth in their first year at the medium-school level after moving up from the small-school classification.

The Estacado High School team competed in the Region 11 small-school meet in Keller, where they finished second both overall and in the Super Quiz competition. The Matadors also advanced to the state meet as a result of their regional score.

The individual winners are listed below:

Region 8 Medium-School Meet in Arlington

Coronado High School

· Branson Carson (Honors) – Gold in Interview

· Christina Ridlen (Scholastic) – Bronze in Music

· Christian Howard-Loomis (Varsity) – Bronze in Interview

Lubbock High School

· Neloy Shome (Honors) – Gold in Speech; Silver in Math; Bronze in Music and Social Science

· Ashwin Koul (Honors) – Fifth Place Overall; Gold in Interview and Science; Bronze in Math and Speech

· Phyllis Zhang (Honors) – First Place Overall; Gold in Essay, Math, and Speech; Silver in Music, Bronze in Language and Literature;

· Jake Watts (Scholastic) – Second Place Overall; Gold in Economics, Music, and Science; Silver in Interview and Math;

· Isaac Martinez-Trejos (Scholastic) – Silver in Speech, Bronze in Art and Social Science

· Shane Williams (Scholastic) – Fifth Place Overall; Gold in Art, Music, and Speech

· Hunter Dortch (Varsity) – Fifth Place Overall; Gold in Economics, Silver in Social Science

· Sarah Medina (Varsity) – Gold in Speech

· Julia Arendell (Varsity) – Bronze in Essay and Speech

Monterey High School

· Tripp Cator (Honors) – Silver in Economics, Math, Social Science, Speech

· Ryan Rahman (Honors) – Fourth Place Overall; Gold in Music, Social Science; Silver in Language; Bronze in Economics, Science, Art, Interview

· Nick Watson (Honors) – Second Place Overall; Gold in Art, Economics, Language and Literature, Music; Bronze in Essay, Science, Social Science

· Stephen West (Scholastic) – Bronze in Math, Science, Speech

· Maureen Gloria (Scholastic) – Fourth Place Overall; Gold in Essay, Language and Literature; Bronze in Math

· Cameron Sharp Scholastic) Third Place Overall; Gold in Speech; Silver in Music, Science, Social Science; Bronze in Art, Economics, Essay

· Allison Sessom (Varsity) – Bronze in Interview

· Jason Sharp (Varsity) – First Place Overall; Gold in Math, Music, Speech; Silver in Essay, Language and Literature, Science; Bronze in Interview

Talkington School for Young Women Leaders

· Zaina Moussa (Honors) – Bronze in Language and Literature, Math

· Rayanne Lilley (Scholastic) – Silver in Interview

· Ty’Zhanie Kinney (Varsity) – Silver in Interview

· Kamron Taylor (Varsity) – Gold in Speech

Region 11 Small-School Meet in Keller

Estacado High School

· Domynik Carter (Honors) – Fifth Place Overall; Gold in Art, Language and Literature, Music, Speech

· Amaya Jones(Honors)- Silver in Art; Bronze in Language and Literature

· Domyno Rodriguez(Scholastic)- Fifth Place Overall; Gold in Interview; Bronze in Language and Literature, Speech

· Iverson Carter(Scholastic) – Gold in Language and Literature, Bronze in Art

· Brittny Hernandez(Varsity) – First Place Overall; Gold in Art, Language and Literature, Science; Bronze in Music

· Mark Diaz(Varsity) – Silver in Math, Science

· Jazzlynn Christophe (Varsity) – Silver in Speech