Lemoore Middle College team wins again in Kings County Academic Decathlon

Students competed from the classroom, or in some cases, from the computers in their homes.

And in what is rapidly becoming a tradition of sorts in Kings County, this year’s winner was a team of students from Lemoore’s Middle College High School, a team of "brainiacs" that walloped the competition, amassing 41,282.7 points to outdistance second-place Sierra Pacific High School’s 26,252 points easily.

The victory was the local high school’s eighth straight win in the grueling competition.

For years, Lemoore High School had dominated the Academic Decathlon, and this year finished in fourth place with 25,339.9 points. Middle College School and its talented students will advance to the State Academic Decathlon competition in Sacramento in March, which like Kings County’s event, will be held virtually.

Lemoore Middle College standout, Clayton Lahodny, as he did last year, dominated the competition, earning the event’s “Top Decathlete.” In fact, Lahodny earned several individual awards, earning himself several scholarships, including $500 as the event’s top decathlete.

Lemoore Middle College High School top student Clayton Lahodny.

Gary Feinstein, Feinsteinfotos

Lahodny wasn’t alone in his domination of the event. He got help from his teammates, including the event’s Top Varsity Student Philip Marihart and Top Scholastic Student, Richard Harmiel.

Another big winner was Gurmannat Chalotra, a Lemoore Middle College High student who garnered six scholarships in a variety of areas, including Language and Literature, Music, Science, Social Science, Speech, and Interview, $100 for each discipline.   

“I was quite pleased with their efforts,” said their educational guru and teacher, Allen Tong, a long-time teacher at the Middle College High School. “ “Our students responded beyond the call of duty. I’m really proud of them.”

Teams from Corcoran High School, Hanford High School, Hanford West High School, Lemoore High School, Lemoore Middle College High School, and Sierra Pacific High School (a total of 43 students) competed in a rigorous set of academic examinations demonstrating their versatility in a variety of academic categories.  Each team is comprised of “A,” “B,” and “C” students. 

Team members participated in ten grueling events in the Academic Decathlon, including Art, Economics, Mathematics, Music, Language & Literature, Social Science, and Science. The contestants performed prepared and impromptu speeches, wrote essays on a given topic, and participated in interview competitions. 

Lemoore Middle College High School, coached by Allen Tong, easily outdistance Kings County’s high schools:

2​nd​ Place: Sierra Pacific High School with 26,252.0 points

3​rd​ Place: Hanford West High School with 25,529.2 points

4​th​ Place: Lemoore High School with 25,339.9 points

5​th​ Place: Hanford High School with 24,860.8 points

6​th​ Place: Corcoran High School with 23,385.4 points

At the event awards ceremony, individual medals and scholarships were won by students from each participating high school.  More than $5,5700.00 in scholarships was awarded to top placing Kings County students.

Top Decathlete –​ Clayton Lahodny, Lemoore Middle College High School, $500 scholarship

Top Varsity Student - ​ Philip Marihart, Lemoore Middle College High School, $250 scholarship

Top Scholastic Student - ​ Richard Harmiel, Lemoore Middle College High​ ​School, $250 scholarship

Top Honors Student – ​Clayton Lahodny, Lemoore Middle College​ ​High School, $250 scholarship

Top Student Corcoran HS- ​Gabrielle Salgado, $200

Top Student Hanford HS-​ Liam Dunn,$200

Top Student Hanford West HS​- Antonio Martinez, $200

Top Student Lemoore HS-​ Robert Dohermann, $200

Top Student Lemoore Middle College HS​- Clayton Lahodny, $200

Top Student Sierra Pacific HS​- Aniruddha Ashok, $200

Other scholarship winners included​:

Language & Literature​: Gurmannat Chalotra, Lemoore Middle College High School, $100

Music​: Gurmannat Chalotra, Lemoore Middle College High School, $100

Science​: Gurmannat Chalotra, Lemoore Middle College High School, $100

Art​: Gurmannat Chalotraanden Banuelos, Lemoore Middle College High School, $100

Mathematics​: Clayton Lahodny, Lemoore Middle College High School, $100

Economics​: Clayton Lahodny, Lemoore Middle College High School, $100

Social Science​: Clayton Lahodny, Lemoore Middle College High School, $100

Social Science​: Gurmannat Chalotra, Lemoore Middle College High School, $100

Essay​: Clayton Lahodny, Lemoore Middle College High School, $100

Speech​: Clayton LahodnyLemoore Middle College High School, $100

Speech​: Gurmannat Chalotra, Lemoore Middle College High School, $100

Interview​: Clayton LahodnyLemoore Middle College High School, $100

Interview​: Gurmannat Chalotra, Lemoore Middle College High School, $100