MOESC Announces Academic Challenge Winners
Throughout the month of March students in 4th through 12th grade competed in Academic Challenge meets. Students compete as teams, answering questions about a wide range of topics including literature, fine arts, geography, history, math, and science.
On March 9th, 7/8th grade combined teams competed. Twenty teams from Ashland, Col. Crawford, Crestview, Galion, Lexington, Madison, Mansfield City Middle School, Northmor, Shelby, and Wooster participated. Madison’s team emerged the victor with members Aleigha Bebout, Emily Bogner, Sam Myers, Claire O’Brien, Zach Lucas, and Nathan Yarman. The 2nd place team was Colonel Crawford Team B with members Jacob Bickert, Ian Gonzales, Davide Rike, Andrew Heinle, Kamden Phelps, and Braeden Grau.
The very next day, March 10th, twelve teams from Crestview, Lexington, Northmor, Mansfield City’s Spanish Immersion, Shelby and Wooster participated in the 6th Grade Academic Challenge. Crestview Team A composed of Hudson Stacy, Drew Ramsey, Jess Ames and Wyatt Love won 1st place. Wooster Team B came in 2nd place. Team members were Eleanor Arnold, Owen Schneider, Abigail Castellucci, and Tim Michel.
March 17th was the 5th grade Academic Challenge meet with 13 teams from Crestview, Galion, Ontario, Lexington, Shelby, Plymouth-Shiloh, and Wooster. Wooster Team A won the meet. Team members were Hosiah Sexton, Elijah Dean, Andrew James and Noemi Bokrossy. The runner-up was Lexington Team A with members Josh L., John H., Braelon I., and Reed C.
On March 18th, eleven 4th grade teams from Crestview, Galion, Lexington, Northmor, Ontario, Shelby, and Plymouth-Shiloh competed in their Academic Challenge meet. Lexington won the match with their Central Elementary team composed of Jesse S., Ella R., Odin S., Emma S., and Noah T. The A team from Shelby of Avery Tuttle, Jax Curren, Karlie Fuller placed second.
While league play started February 22nd and continued on March 1st and 8th, High School Academic Challenge teams concluded their season with the March 20th tournament. The top two varsity teams for both the league and tournament qualified to compete in the Ohio Academic Competition – the state level Academic Challenge competition that starts in April.
In Varsity competition, the same two teams won the top spots in both the tournament and the league. Lexington’s team of Tommy S., Maggie S., Katie S., Gavin D., Seth W. was the champion of the league and the tournament, while Mt. Vernon’s team of Alaina Pullins, Jordan Treber, Bryce Ferrell, and Nick Grega placed second.
For the Junior Varsity level, the Lexington team won the tournament, while Ashland’s team of Gavin Knox, James Kinney, Drew Briggs, Riley Hammond, Anna Slade, and Alice Cao placed second. In league play, Ashland’s JV team of the same members placed first, and Mt. Vernon’s JV team placed 2nd. Members of the Mt. Vernon team were Will Allar, Ethan Teet, Gannon Reilly, and Charlie Comfort.
Leanna Ferreira, Mid-Ohio ESC’s coordinator for Academic Challenge, said, “These students transitioned well to the virtual setting, navigating the various challenges that arose and competing with the same level of excellence. Overall, I would say this season was a success though we are looking forward to the possibility of returning to some face-to-face competitions in the future.”