Scarborough mental athletes storm to fourth in nation

  

The Scarborough High School Academic Decathlon team, state champions for 22 of the past 26 years, includes on its award-winning 2011 roster students, back row, from left, Jacob Wakem, Kyle Renegeld (alternate), Mike Hall, Justin Gagnon and Chris DeFilipp; front row, Seth Albert, Samantha Couillard, Susan Rundell, Rebecca Mitchell and Julia Labanowski (alternate); and, kneeling in front: Michael Bamford. 

Courtesy photo

It seems like every few years there’s a new team atop the heap in high school sports. But when it comes to mental athletics, Scarborough has a lock.

Consider this: The high school academic decathlon team has won the right to represent Maine at the national competition for 22 of the past 26 years.  Can you name any other team, at any other school, in any other discipline, mental or physical, that has won that many state championships in the last quarter century?

True to form, the Red Storm piled up award after award at the U.S. Academic Decathlon (USAD) national competition, held April 30 in Charlotte, NC. Led by the senior Susan Rundell, who scored 8340.4 points, the team finished fourth among mid-sized schools (1,000-3,000 students). The team also brought home six medals (three silver and three bronze) in individual events.

Founded in Orange County, Calif., in 1968, academic decathlon slowly grew to include other states, before going national in 1982. Today, the nonprofit USAD touts its annual event as “the most prestigious high school academic team competition in the United States.”

Unlike other quiz contests, which seek out only the best and brightest, academic decathlon (AD) is specifically designed to draw from a broad spectrum of students at participating schools.  Each nine-member team must include three A-level students (“Honors”), three B-level (“Scholastic”) and three C-level (“Varsity”), based on local grade-point averages. 

Each level competes against their peers in the appropriate ranking, although all three groups answer the same questions in 10 categories, most of which revolve around a central theme.    

This year’s topic, “The Great Depression,” included relevant tests in art, music, economics, language and literature, science and social studies, as well as an essay composition.  Competitors also were tested in math, gave prepared speeches, and conducted interviews with the judging panel.  

Rundell’s score was good enough to land her 16^th overall, among the 324 students who took part in the annual event. She also won a bronze medal (third overall) on the honors social studies exam.

Junior Michael Bamford took a varsity-level silver in speech, while freshman Justin Gagnon chalked up a varsity silver in the essay competition. Meanwhile, senior Seth Albert scored three scholastic-level medals, including a silver in mathematics and bronze awards in both interview and the so-called “super quiz.”

The course packet in each AD discipline takes about six hours to wade through. That’s on top of four hours of team practice each week. Why, then, would any teenager willingly submit to that amount of extra study?

“That,” said junior Rebecca Mitchell, “is the question we get asked most often – ‘Why would you do that?’”

“People are supportive,” said senior Chris DeFilipp. “They actually think AD is kind of cool. They just don’t understand why you would want to do all that reading and studying outside of school.”

Mitchell says that, like many of her teammates, she’s “lost track” of how many hours she puts into AD each year. What she knows without doubt, she says, is that the work is its own reward.

“It’s such a great supplement to our education,” agrees Rundell. “I never would have studied music theory, for example, if it hadn’t been for academic decathlon. It gives you another set of materials that you normally wouldn’t go into.”

In some cases, senior Mike Hall notes, work in AD helps with regular schoolwork. He’s aced test questions in his regular classes thanks to things he learned in AD. 

Oddly enough, because the USAD casts a wide net, under the theory that C-average students can benefit the most from their participation, AD is the one extracurricular activity where improving your grades can actually get you kicked of the team. It is not uncommon for a spot to open up mid-season because a team member has improved his or her GPA.

“We’ve had cases where someone moved up, but there were no B-level spots available,” said DeFilipp, “Then, that person becomes an alternate at that level and we have to scramble to find a C-student who is willing to do it and to put in the work that it requires.”

In other cases, AD is just a chance to broaden one’s educational wings. Latin teacher Shane Davis, who acts as the AD team’s co-advisor, points out that “The Grapes of Wrath” is not required reading at Scarborough High School.  Who knows if or when AD team members would have studied the classic otherwise.

And then there’s the big trip, which is an experience in itself. 

“The trip is a lot of fun,” said Mitchell. “But so is just meeting all these wonderful people and making friends that we see every year. 

“It’s nice to be part of something that’s so big,” said Hall.  “Doing this, and being recognized, that’s really nice.”

Hall and the other three seniors on the Red Storm squad now have AD in their sails, safe in the knowledge that they’ve preserved their school’s winning streak, once again besting as many as 16 other teams for the state championship.  Performing well at nationals is just a bonus, he said.

“There’s a bit of confidence going into the state meet,“ explains DeFilipp. “But there’s also kind of a lot of pressure, because you know you’ve studied as hard as you can, but you don’t want to be the team that ruins the streak.”

Now, for juniors like Rundell and Mitchell, next year already is on their minds, along with the 2012 topic: Imperialism.

“We have this huge legacy at our school,” said Mitchell, “so you just don’t want to be the team that messes that up.”