Pius X Academic Decathlon Team Named State Champion; Will Compete at National Competition
Pius X repeated as the State Champion in only their fifth appearance at the Nebraska State Academic Decathlon on Feb. 20-21 at the University of Nebraska - Omaha. The win earned Pius X a bid to the National competition to be held in Garden Grove, Calif., on April 16-18.
Pius X’s academic decathletes were awarded a total of 19 gold, 14 silver, and 12 bronze medals. Each of the nine members of Pius X’s first place team also will receive a college scholarship. Pius X took the top spot in the large school division, outscoring Creighton Prep, Daniel Gross, Omaha Burke, Omaha Central, Omaha North, and Seward High School.
The State Academic Decathlon event was split into three sections. Friday night's events included speech, interview, and essay. The bulk of Saturday morning and afternoon included 30 minute exams in six subject areas: art history, music, science, economics, language/literature, and math. The culminating event was a super quiz competition focused on social science. Each high school entered a team of 12 students (9 members, plus 3 alternates) in three divisions: honors, scholastic, and varsity.
Pius X’s win was highlighted by Philip Hanigan earning a perfect score in science. Liam Kruse and Philip Hanigan placed 1st and 2nd, respectively, in the Honors Division. Henry Jaros placed 2nd overall in the Scholastic Division, and Noah Schimenti and Esther Brown placed 1st and 2nd, respectively, in the Varsity Division.
Individual medals earned included:
Liam Kruse (Honors): gold – Art History; silver – Language & Literature ; silver – Science; silver – Economics; bronze – Interview.
Philip Hanigan (Honors): silver – Art History; silver – Language & Literature; gold – Math; Gold – Science; gold – Music; gold – Economics.
Catherine Krueger (Honors) – bronze – Art History; silver - Speech
Henry Jaros (Scholastic): silver – Art History; silver – Language & Literature; bronze – Science; silver – Music; bronze – Essay.
Jacob Schreiber (Scholastic): bronze – Language & Literature; gold – Speech.
Anna Tetherow (Scholastic): bronze – Art History; bronze – Math; bronze - Music.
Noah Schimenti (Varsity): ): gold – Art History; silver - Language & Literature; gold – Math; bronze – Science; gold – Music; gold – Economics; bronze – Speech.
Esther Brown (Varsity): silver – Science; bronze – Music; silver – Economics; gold – Speech; gold – Interview; gold - Essay.
Freddie Barie (Varsity): bronze - art history.
Catherine Krueger (alternate Honors): gold – art history, music, economics, language/literature, math; and silver – science.
Madeline May (alternate): silver – Fine Arts; silver – Soft Science.
Kathryn Noel (alternate): gold – Fine Arts; gold – Soft Science; gold – Hard Science.
Alyssa Jensen (alternate): gold – Fine Arts; gold – Soft Science; gold – Hard Science.
The Academic Decathlon is coached by Ann Kotopka, Mary Jo Kopf, Shiela Sievert, Margaret Kaiser-Woodward, and Father Steve Mills.
