Download & Print
Front row: Rebecca Ellingson, Hannah Bates Samantha Rubalcava
Middle row: Sheila Zavorka, Cyrus Mendez, Ethan Ellingson, Catherine Molina
Back Row: Dan Zavorka, Luke Bitzkie, Samuel Nimmrichter, Christian McKnelly
March 11, 2020
Bandera Academic Decathlon team takes state, will represent Texas in national competition in Alaska
By Hannah Bates, Team Captain
Special to the Prophet
The Bandera Academic Decathlon team participated at the state meet in Frisco recently. The team received about 50 individual medals and also earned additional team medals as they dominated the 4A (small-school) competition.
Team members compete in one of three categories: honors, scholastic and varsity. These categories are determined by grade-point average.
Team members are: Luke Bitzkie, Samantha Rubalcava and Christian McKnelly in the honors category; Hannah Bates, Ethan Ellingson and Rebecca ELlingson in the scholastic category; and Samuel Nimmrichter, Catherine Molina and Cyrus Mendez in the varsity category.
The competition consists of tests on mathematics, economics, art, music, science, literature and social science – all related to the theme this year, Health and Wellness. The team also competes in an essay competition, a speech competition, and an interview competition. Individuals can earn medal in each of the 10 subjects and can also earn overall high-scoring medals if their scores are greater than their competitors. Medals are given to the top three students of each event and to the top five individuals of the competition, per category.
Bandera students earning scholarships for being the top scores in their categories are as follows:
Christian McKnelly, Rebecca Ellingson and Samuel Nimmrichter: all three were the highest scoring individuals. Luke Bitzkie and Ethan Ellingson were the second highest scoring individuals. Hannah Bates was the third highest scoring individual. Samantha Rubalcava was the fourth highest scoring individual.
The individual and team decathlon scholarships earned for this event are $22,000. The team also placed first in super quiz and each team member earned a gold medal for the super quiz win and a gold overall for their top-scoring team win.
Coach Dan Zavorka was nominated by a former student as coach of the year and received that honor as the “Tom Norris Coach of the Year” awardee.
The individuals receiving medals in their subjects are as follows:
Luke Bitzkie: literature – silver, math – bronze, music – bronze, science – bronze, social science – silver and second overall highest score.
Samantha Rubalcava: speech – silver, science – silver, social science – bronze and fourth overall highest score.
Christian McKnelly: essay – silver, interview – silver, literature – bronze, mathematics – gold, music – gold, economics – gold, science – gold, art –gold, social science – gold and first overall highest score.
Hannah Bates: literature – bronze, music – bronze, science – bronze, art- silver, social science – bronze, and third overall highest score.
Ethan Ellingson: literature – silver, music – bronze, economics – silver, science – gold, social science – silver and second overall highest score.
Rebecca Ellingson: essay – bronze, literature gold, music – gold, economics – bronze, art – gold, social science – gold, and first overall highest score.
Samuel Nimmrichter: literature – silver, math – gold, music – silver, economics – gold, science – gold, art – silver, social science – gold, and the first overall highest score.
Cyrus Mendez: science – bronze.
The team will represent Texas at the national competition in Anchorage, Alaska in April.
Team members compete in one of three categories: honors, scholastic and varsity. These categories are determined by grade-point average.
Team members are: Luke Bitzkie, Samantha Rubalcava and Christian McKnelly in the honors category; Hannah Bates, Ethan Ellingson and Rebecca ELlingson in the scholastic category; and Samuel Nimmrichter, Catherine Molina and Cyrus Mendez in the varsity category.
The competition consists of tests on mathematics, economics, art, music, science, literature and social science – all related to the theme this year, Health and Wellness. The team also competes in an essay competition, a speech competition, and an interview competition. Individuals can earn medal in each of the 10 subjects and can also earn overall high-scoring medals if their scores are greater than their competitors. Medals are given to the top three students of each event and to the top five individuals of the competition, per category.
Bandera students earning scholarships for being the top scores in their categories are as follows:
Christian McKnelly, Rebecca Ellingson and Samuel Nimmrichter: all three were the highest scoring individuals. Luke Bitzkie and Ethan Ellingson were the second highest scoring individuals. Hannah Bates was the third highest scoring individual. Samantha Rubalcava was the fourth highest scoring individual.
The individual and team decathlon scholarships earned for this event are $22,000. The team also placed first in super quiz and each team member earned a gold medal for the super quiz win and a gold overall for their top-scoring team win.
Coach Dan Zavorka was nominated by a former student as coach of the year and received that honor as the “Tom Norris Coach of the Year” awardee.
The individuals receiving medals in their subjects are as follows:
Luke Bitzkie: literature – silver, math – bronze, music – bronze, science – bronze, social science – silver and second overall highest score.
Samantha Rubalcava: speech – silver, science – silver, social science – bronze and fourth overall highest score.
Christian McKnelly: essay – silver, interview – silver, literature – bronze, mathematics – gold, music – gold, economics – gold, science – gold, art –gold, social science – gold and first overall highest score.
Hannah Bates: literature – bronze, music – bronze, science – bronze, art- silver, social science – bronze, and third overall highest score.
Ethan Ellingson: literature – silver, music – bronze, economics – silver, science – gold, social science – silver and second overall highest score.
Rebecca Ellingson: essay – bronze, literature gold, music – gold, economics – bronze, art – gold, social science – gold, and first overall highest score.
Samuel Nimmrichter: literature – silver, math – gold, music – silver, economics – gold, science – gold, art – silver, social science – gold, and the first overall highest score.
Cyrus Mendez: science – bronze.
The team will represent Texas at the national competition in Anchorage, Alaska in April.
