Lower Lake High School is fielding two teams this year in the Lake County Academic Decathlon. LLHS hosts the county”s Super Quiz relay, 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, in the high school gymnasium.
“We”d appreciate support from the community,” said decathlete Kate Lyons, who sits as student representative on the Konocti school board. “We”re very competitive with other schools.”
Last year LLHS was unexpectedly honored when a vote by the California Academic Decathlon board, to adopt a 55-team format, paved the way for an invitation to compete at the state competition.
Lower Lake had placed second last year to continuing champion Upper Lake, which is also fielding two teams in this year”s county competition. During last year”s state competition, Lower Lake and Upper Lake teams placed 10th and fifth respectively among schools in their division.
Lake County”s 27th annual Academic Decathlon is designed to rigorously test students” academic skills. This year”s theme is “China and Its Influence on the World.”
Teams consist of three divisions, honor, varsity and scholastic, and are coached by Nancy Harby, Lower Lake High School; Patti Jiminez and Jennifer Pyzer, Middletown High School; Tina Moore and Tiffany Larson, Upper Lake Union High School; and Diana Nelson, Clear Lake High School.
Sponsored by the Lake County Office of Education, the competition this year will match the following teams:
n CLHS
? Honors ? Kimberly Lajcik, Melissa Marshall, Candy Diener;
? Scholastic ? Kathryn Frazell, Mark Nelson and Enrique Villanueva;
? Varsity ? Kyana Emmot, Natasha Herrera and Lauren Stephens.
? Alternate ? Sophia Sieber-Davis.
n LLHS Team 1
? Honors ? Kate Lyons, Emily Riggs and Emmalena Illia;
? Scholastic ? Manuel Pantoja, Anthea Tuley and Joe Riggs;
? Varsity ? Jared Focose, Jamie Walker and Kayla Huff.
? Alternates ? Lanie Nolasco, Charlie Barron and Loretta Garcia.
n LLHS Team 2
? Honors ? Josh Salazar, Sean Perkins and Victoria Kursa;
? Scholastic ? Shirley Barajas, Sherrie O”Neill-Jones and Suzie Carlsen;
? Varsity ? Chris Ingersoll, Ryan Johnston and Steven Negrete.
? Alternates ? Evan Kaniss and Cassie Martin.
n MHS
? Honors ? Alexis Dorman, Anna Lopez and Cynthia Pimental;
? Scholastic ? Crystal Harris, Kelsey Reeves and Johnathan Bateman;
? Varsity ? David Lapierre.
n ULHS Team 1
? Honors ? Omega Letana, Daniella Santana-Cazares and Kyle Coleman;
? Scholastic ? Robin Grayhorse, Samantha Hall and Bianca Cruz;
? Varsity ? Robert Pyle, Katrina Johnson and Robin McCutcheon.
n ULHS Team 2
? Honors ?Thouyoon Chao, Belarmino Garcia Jr. and Marisa Feliciano-Garcia;
? Scholastic ? Quinn Womachka, David Mairs and Maria Mendoza;
? Varsity ? Chae Carter, Jonathan Philpott and Luis Santana-Cazares.
Contact Cynthia Parkhill at cparkhill@clearlakeobserver.com.
