In a class of their own

Scarborough student shatters the state record as the Academic Decathlon team wins its eighth straight title

SCARBOROUGH — For the eighth year in a row, and for the 24^th time in the past 28 years, Scarborough High School has captured the state championship in Academic Decathlon, a grueling test of mental acumen in 10 distinct disciplines.

Adding to this year’s accolades, team captain Susan Rundell set a new state record, scoring 9,213 of a possible 10,000 points, shattering the old record held by Nathaniel Whittemore – Scarborough class of 2002 – by more than 500 points. 

Rundell is Maine’s first Academic Decathlon competitor to break the 9,000-point barrier and her score stands as second in the nation.

“But that’s without all of the states having tested yet,” said Rundell, a senior who has been accepted to Yale and has a “likely letter” from Brown.

“The California kids are amazing,” said Rundell, predicting a tumble in the rankings before the national competition April 25-28 in Albuquerque, N.M. “They have an entire curriculum based on this. It’s an extracurricular for us – for them it’s a part of their education.”

But Rundell’s teammates don’t buy it.

“She’ll act all modest, but the truth is, she creamed it,” said junior Cynthia Jordan, who didn’t do so badly herself, capturing gold medals in the scholastic level of the language and literature and music competitions.

In all, the nine members and three alternates on Scarborough’s team brought home more than 30 individual medals, on top of the team win. Together, they scored a total of 41,737 points to win the state title March 7 at Deering High School, besting runner-up Monmouth Academy and third-place Oak Hill High School. In individual rankings, four of the top nine spots went to Red Storm team members, including Rundell, Jordan, Mike Bamford and Rebecca Mitchell.

Founded in Orange County, Calif., in 1968, Academic Decathlon slowly grew to include other states, before going national in 1982. Scarborough won its first of 24 state championships in 1985.

Today, the nonprofit United States Academic Decathlon 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 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 for ranking, although all three groups answer the same questions in 10 categories, most of which revolve around a central theme. This year’s topic, “Imperialism,” 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.

To say the least, there’s a lot of studying involved. But for participants, that’s actually part of the appeal. The course packet in each 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?

“It’s a good question, why do we do it? I think we all asked ourselves that at some point,” said Rundell, with a laugh. “But it’s such a great supplement to our education. 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.”

Both Rundell and her teammate, fellow senior Emily Tolman, said the program allows students with a natural curiosity a chance to delve deeper into a topic than the broad brush sometimes used in the classroom. 

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

That’s why leadership is perhaps the 11^th, untested category.

“I admire Susan's work ethic,” said one of Scarborough’s two coaches, Latin teacher Shane Davis. “She understands how to set goals and achieve them. She also knows how to motivate the people around to her strive harder. She is the epitome of a student leader.”

Rundell takes the compliment with characteristic humility.

“I just studied as hard as I could,” she said. “I was hoping to beat the state record, but by that much – it was far and away beyond my expectations. I’m still completely shocked.”

But at that, Tolman rolls her eyes.

“She’s the only one who doubted herself,” she said of Rundell.

Tolman, a Colby-bound senior whom Rundell recruited onto the team this year, knows something about breaking state records herself. A member of Scarborough’s indoor track team, which also has eight consecutive championships, she holds the state record at 600-meters, proving she’s both brain and brawn.

“It’s really rewarding to be on both teams,” she said. “Our track team got a lot of coverage this year. Everyone knows about that championship, but most people don’t know about AD, so I think it’d be nice to get the word out.”

“I think it’s really important to encourage activities like this,” agreed Rundell. “You always hear about how successful the sports teams have been in Scarborough – and I think that’s really important, too – but I think what we’ve done is pretty amazing this year.

“It’s really important for kids who are into academics, who are looking for a place to fit in, to excel at something just like a sports kid can,” said Rundell.

But that doesn’t mitigate the pressure.

Rundell and Tolman will graduate 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, they say, especially given that the Scarborough team always includes underclassman, while many of their national competitors field teams large enough that many don’t move up from alternate status until senior year.

“You have to do awesome, because we have that legacy,” said Jordan, who will step into a leadership role next year, knowing what to expect. “The state meet is an incredibly, incredibly emotional day. It is just, really intense, you are right on edge the entire day.”

But for Rundell, state meets are now a thing of the past. Now it’s just a matter of wondering how long her state record score will stand.

“As far as that goes, Susan has set a very, very high bar,” said Davis. “I suspect if you asked her how long she'd like to see the record stand, she would tell you that she hopes one of next year's team members immediately breaks it. That's the kind of person she is.”

“Someone will rise to it,” Rundell said, with a smile, “and, hopefully, it won’t be too long.”

A CLOSER LOOK

2012 Maine Academic Decathlon State Championship results

First – Scarborough High School

Second – Monmouth Academy

Third– Oak Hill High School

Fourth – Bangor High School

Fifth – Calais High School

Sixth – Portland High School

Individual winners:

Honors level

Gold – Susan Rundell, Scarborough

Silver – Mathew Bryant, Monmouth

Bronze – Gwenyth Fraser, Oak Hill

Scholastic level

Gold – Cynthia Jordan, Scarborough

Silver – Rebecca Mitchell, Scarborough

Bronze – Will Benoit, Bangor

Varsity level

Gold – Michael Bamford, Scarborough

Silver – Rebecca Pelletier, Bangor

Bronze – Cam Perry, Bangor