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January 31, 2022
The Beast does it one more time
Bandera Decathlon team named 4A Champs
In a hard-fought battle at Corpus Christi, the Bandera Decathlon team became the 4A champions at regional competition, held this past weekend at Corpus Christi, for the 6th year in a row. The team also took first place in Super Quiz, the only part of the competition that is open to the public. This young team will compete at the state competition in February.
Academic Decathlon is a thematic competition in which students compete in ten events: essay, speech, interview, math, science, music, art, literature, economics and social science. Last year when the team became nation champions the theme was the cold war. This year, the theme is: “Water, A Most-Essential Resource.”
Participants are divided into three categories: Honors, scholastic and varsity, depending upon the students’ grade averages. Team members are Megan Mize, Savannah Venegas, William “Ozzie” Knowles, Laurel Morsi, Emily Ramos, Karina Garcia, Chandler Knowles, Christopher Pallesen and Riley Longobardi. The coaches are Joe Cortez and Dan Zavorka.
The students earned a total of 30 individual medals and three of the team members were recognized as top overall scorers at the competition.
The following are the students that received metals and the event:
Chandler Knowles: Gold, Interview with a perfect score of 1000; Gold, economics; Gold, art; Gold, literature; Bronze, speech; Bronze, social science; and Gold – overall for being the highest scoring varsity contestant.
William “Ozzie” Knowles: Bronze, art; Silver, literature; Bronze, music; Gold, science; Gold, social science, and Bronze – overall for being third highest scoring honors contestant.
Riley Longobardi: Silver, essay; Silver, art; Gold, economics; Silver, literature; Bronze, math; Bronze, science; Silver, music; Silver, social science; and Bronze – overall for being the third highest scoring varsity contestant.
Christopher Pallesen: Gold, music; Bronze, essay; Bronze, economics
Laurel Morsi: Bronze, literature; Bronze, science
Savannah Venegas: Gold, literature; Bronze, art
Megan Mize: Silver, interview
Academic Decathlon is a thematic competition in which students compete in ten events: essay, speech, interview, math, science, music, art, literature, economics and social science. Last year when the team became nation champions the theme was the cold war. This year, the theme is: “Water, A Most-Essential Resource.”
Participants are divided into three categories: Honors, scholastic and varsity, depending upon the students’ grade averages. Team members are Megan Mize, Savannah Venegas, William “Ozzie” Knowles, Laurel Morsi, Emily Ramos, Karina Garcia, Chandler Knowles, Christopher Pallesen and Riley Longobardi. The coaches are Joe Cortez and Dan Zavorka.
The students earned a total of 30 individual medals and three of the team members were recognized as top overall scorers at the competition.
The following are the students that received metals and the event:
Chandler Knowles: Gold, Interview with a perfect score of 1000; Gold, economics; Gold, art; Gold, literature; Bronze, speech; Bronze, social science; and Gold – overall for being the highest scoring varsity contestant.
William “Ozzie” Knowles: Bronze, art; Silver, literature; Bronze, music; Gold, science; Gold, social science, and Bronze – overall for being third highest scoring honors contestant.
Riley Longobardi: Silver, essay; Silver, art; Gold, economics; Silver, literature; Bronze, math; Bronze, science; Silver, music; Silver, social science; and Bronze – overall for being the third highest scoring varsity contestant.
Christopher Pallesen: Gold, music; Bronze, essay; Bronze, economics
Laurel Morsi: Bronze, literature; Bronze, science
Savannah Venegas: Gold, literature; Bronze, art
Megan Mize: Silver, interview