Lemoore's Middle College High School ranks high once again at Academic Decathlon Nationals

This performance marks the third time in five years that LMCHS has competed at nationals and finished on the podium.  Their success is the culmination of a year of intense effort that recently yielded their 10th-in-a-row win at the Kings County level.

How challenging was the competition?  More than 400 students from 45 schools across the country participated this year after winning competitions within their respective counties and states.  Within its Division-IV primary competitive grouping, LMCHS was up against schools almost four times its size—LMCHS’ total student enrollment of just 224 makes it what may be the smallest school in the entire competition.  Some parts of the competition involved schools outside Division-IV, some of which were up to 10 times the size of LMCHS.  The word “underdog” comes to mind.

Middle College Decathlon Team: Coach Allen Tong, Nicolo Wheaton, Richard Harmiel, Drevin Rivera, Coach Janet Bengtson, John Bengtlon. Gwynith Champlin, Lana Moore, Clarissa Morgan, Naeryhl Ronquillo, Gurmannat Chalotra, Kylie Valentino

Underdogs or not, the results from the Saturday, Apr 23rd awards ceremony were superb:  a Silver (2nd place) team finish in their division; 18 individual medals; 5 scholarships; a national top 3 “Showcase” speech performance by student Isaac Harmiel; and a first-place win in the Super Quiz competition in which all nine students answered rapid-fire questions in seven subject areas. 

When ranked against all 45 schools across all divisions, including the schools ten times their size, LMCHS finished in the top 10. 

The members of the team, in alphabetic order, were Gurmannat Chalotra, Gwynith (Gwyn) Champlin, Richard (Isaac) Harmiel, Lana Moore, Clarissa (Chloe) Morgan, Drevin Rivera, Naeryl Ronquillo, Kylie (Kodi) Valentino, and Nicolo Wheaton.

They were coached by Allen Tong, Janet Bengtson, and John Bengtson.

Individual award recipients included:

• Gwyn Champlin (Varsity):  Bronze Medals in both Speech and Music.
• Gurmannat Chalotra (Honors):  Gold Medal in Social Science; Silver Medals in Speech and Literature; $250 scholarship for being the highest-scoring decathlete for LMCHS; and $750 scholarship for the second-highest score by an Honors decathlete in Division IV.
• Richard (Isaac) Harmiel (Varsity):  Gold Medals in Speech (best speech among all varsity students in all divisions), Art, Social Science; Silver Medals for Music and Science; Bronze Medal for Interview; and a $1,000 scholarship for the highest score by a Varsity decathlete in Division IV.
• Kodi Valentino (Scholastic):  Bronze Medal in Speech.
• Nicolo Wheaton (Varsity):  Gold Medal in Music; Silver Medals in Science and Social Science; Bronze Medals in Literature, Art, Math; $250 scholarship for being the most valuable team member for LMCHS; and $500 scholarship for the third-highest score by a Varsity decathlete in Division IV.