Ponderosa takes home top honors

Some teams dream of repeating a championship season and a few talented and lucky teams take that dream another step for the coveted three-peat, but Ponderosa High School's Academic Decathlon team has far surpassed that. On Feb. 4, the Bruins won the El Dorado County Academic Decathlon for the 20th consecutive year.

Union Mine High School placed second, Oak Ridge High School came in third and El Dorado High School was fourth.

The competition over two days took place at Union Mine High School in El Dorado and tested students in 10 academic disciplines: economics, art, language and literature, mathematics, science, music, social science, essay, speech, interview and a super quiz.

The theme for the 30th annual Academic Decathlon was exploring the Age of Imperialism.

Ponderosa will now go on to represent the county at the state level and if successful go on to the national competition finals in Albuquerque, N.M.

Terri Kessler is the coach for the Ponderosa team: Chris Rutten, Joey Costello, Aaron Dinwiddie, Janel Merkel, Shirley Kim, Jeremiah James, Tiffani Lacey, Tyler North, Cari Chavez, Jennifer McMahon, Aaron Prentice, Saejin Yi, Hannah Tucker, Tony Prescott, Jacob Hansen and Jordan Peterson.

El Dorado High School's Decathlon team was coached by Jo Avery and Jennifer Hansen: Josie Alvarez, Kaitlyn Eyrisch, Michaela Hughes, Emilee Oldham, Dominika Mindekova, Naomi Bastian, Fiach Day, Weston Rademacher, MacKenzie Chopp, Lena Korkeila, Steven Mackey, Dane Neves, Laura Polkinghorn and Sara Weimer.

The coach for Oak Ridge High School's team was Jeff Hassain: Layna Chen, Thomas Tucker, Juliane Cassidy, Shivani Sharma, Alonzo Lee, Jade Matsumoto, Landon Nagao, Cody West, Jacob Gordon, Austin DeVincenzi, Wyatt Van Horn, Bevyn Cassidy, Riley Bogar, Haesoo Kim, Tim Lo, Marisa Ciccozzi, Jason Stein and Sumega Mandadi.

Union Mine's Academic Decathlon team coach was Molly Smith: Benjamin Gwerder, Brendan Blockus, Sean Fitch, Jordan Hyatt-Miller, Rebecca Lizarraga, Daniel Stevenson, Daniel Michelson, A.J. Peklar, Alex Dawes, Matt Dwyer, Brittney Morrison, Michael Stevenson, Aaron Below, Spencer Nelson, Kendall Frey-Thomas, Dominic Sanguinetti and Amanda Fogelman.

Clare Dusek, academic decathlon advisor praised the efforts of the Ponderosa students and added that all the teams worked very hard and are tremendous assets to the community.

2012 El Dorado County Academic Decathlon Medal Winners

Language/Literature

Honors Division

Gold — Aaron Dinwiddie, Ponderosa

Silver — Dane Neves, El Dorado Ponderosa HS Oak Ridge HS Oak Ridge HS Ponderosa HS

Silver — Joseph Costello, Ponderosa

Bronze — Juliane Cassidy, Oak Ridge

Bronze —  Janel  Merkel, Ponderosa

Scholastic Division

Gold — Jennifer McMahon, Ponderosa

Silver — Fiach Day, El Dorado

Bronze — Tiffani Lacey, Ponderosa

Varsity Division

Gold — Michaela Hughes, El Dorado

Silver — Jacob Hansen, Ponderosa

Bronze — Brittany Morrison, Union Mine

Music

Honors Division

Gold — Aaron Dinwiddie, Ponderosa

Gold — Thomas Tucker, Oak Ridge

Silver — Janel Merkel, Ponderosa

Bronze — Laura Polkinghorn, El Dorado

Bronze — Naomi Bastian, El Dorado

Scholastic Division

Gold — Daniel Michelson, Union Mine

Silver — Tiffani Lacey, Ponderosa

Bronze — Rebecca Lizarraga, Union Mine

Varsity Division

Gold — Michaela Hughes, El Dorado

Silver — Steven Mackey, El Dorado

Silver — Brittany Morrison, Union Mine

Silver — Tony Prescott, Ponderosa

Silver — Jordan Peterson, Ponderosa

Silver — Wyatt VanHorn, Oak Ridge

Bronze — Austin DeVincenzi, Oak Ridge

Bronze  — Jacob Hansen, Ponderosa

Science

Honors Division

Gold — Joseph Costello, Ponderosa

Silver — Aaron Dinwiddie, Ponderosa

Bronze — Juliane Cassidy, Oak Ridge

Scholastic Division

Gold — Aaron Prentice, Ponderosa

Silver — Daniel Michelson, Union Mine

Silver — Tiffani Lacey, Ponderosa

Bronze — Jennifer McMahon, Ponderosa

Varsity Division

Gold — Jacob Hansen, Ponderosa

Silver — Austin DeVincenzi, Oak Ridge

Silver — Jason Stein, Oak Ridge

Bronze — Jordan Peterson, Ponderosa

Bronze — Matt Dwyer, Union Mine

Art

Honors Division

Gold — Layna Chen, Oak Ridge

Gold — Joseph Costello, Ponderosa

Silver — Juliane Cassidy, Oak Ridge

Bronze — Dane Neves, El Dorado

Scholastic Division

Gold — Rebecca Lizarraga, Union Mine

Silver — Tiffani Lacey, Ponderosa

Silver — Fiach Day, El Dorado

Bronze — Jennifer McMahon, Ponderosa

Varsity Division

Gold — Jordan Peterson, Ponderosa

Gold  — Jacob Hansen, Ponderosa

Silver — Michaela Hughes, El Dorado

Bronze — Brittany Morrison, Union Mine

Mathematics

Honors Division

Gold — Thomas Tucker, Oak Ridge

Silver — Layna Chen, Oak Ridge

Bronze — Janel Merkel, Ponderosa

Scholastic Division

Gold — Tiffani Lacey, Ponderosa

Silver — Aaron Prentice, Ponderosa

Bronze — Daniel Michelson, Union Mine

Bronze — Daniel Stevenson, Union MIne

Varsity Division

Gold — Austin DeVincenzi, Oak Ridge

Silver — Jacob Hansen, Ponderosa

Bronze — Jordan Peterson, Ponderosa

Bronze — Jason Stein, Oak Ridge

Economics

Honors Division

Gold — Aaron Dinwiddie, Ponderosa

Silver — Thomas Tucker, Oak Ridge

Bronze — Joseph Costello, Ponderosa

Scholastic Division

Gold — Tiffani Lacey, Ponderosa

Silver — Aaron Prentice, Ponderosa

Silver — Jennifer McMahon, Ponderosa

Bronze — Rebecca Lizarraga, Union Mine

Varsity Division

Gold — Jordan Peterson, Ponderosa

Silver — Wyatt VanHorn, Oak Ridge

Silver — Tony Prescott, Ponderosa

Silver — Jacob Hansen, Ponderosa

Bronze — Brittany Morrison, Union Mine

Essay

Honors Division

Gold — Aaron Dinwiddie, Ponderosa

Silver — Janel Merkel, Ponderosa

Bronze — Juliane Cassidy, Oak Ridge

Scholastic Division

Winner-Best Essay — Gold — Rebecca Lizarraga, Union Mine

Silver — Daniel Stevenson, Union Mine

Bronze — Jennifer McMahon, Ponderosa

Varsity Division

Gold — Brittany Morrison, Union Mine

Silver — Wyatt VanHorn, Oak Ridge

Bronze — Tony Prescott, Ponderosa

Speech

Honors Division

Gold — Brendan Blockus, Union Mine

Silver — Janel Merkel, Ponderosa

Silver — Naomi Bastian, El Dorado

Bronze — Thomas Tucker, Oak Ridge

Scholastic Division

Gold — Aaron Prentice, Ponderosa

Silver — Rebecca Lizarraga, Union Mine

Bronze — Jennifer  McMahon, Ponderosa

Varsity Division
Winner-Best Speech — Gold — Brittany Morrison, Union Mine

Silver — Jordan Peterson, Ponderosa

Bronze — Jacob Hansen, Ponderosa

Interview

Honors Division

Gold — Layna Chen, Oak Ridge

Silver — Janel Merkel, Ponderosa

Bronze — Juliane Cassidy, Oak Ridge

Scholastic Division

Gold — Jennifer McMahon, Ponderosa

Silver — Aaron Prentice, Ponderosa

Bronze — Jade Matsumoto, Oak Ridge

Varsity Division

Gold — Brittany Morrison, Union Mine

Silver — Jacob Hansen, Ponderosa

Bronze — Tony Prescott, Ponderosa

Super Quiz

Winner — Oak Ridge High School

Overall Winner 2012

First — Ponderosa

Second — Union Mine

Third — Oak Ridge

Fourth — El Dorado

Top Individual

Joseph Costello, Ponderosa

Top Alternate

Timothy Lo, Oak Ridge