Individual and team winners of the 24th Annual Sacramento County Academic Decathlon — conducted by the Sacramento County Office of Education — have been announced. Following is a listing of those honored February 11 at the Academic Decathlon Awards Banquet, which took place at Sacramento's Doubletree Hotel. KOVR-TV 13 Chief Meteorologist Dave Bender and Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools Dr. David P. Meaney joined with local education and civic leaders in presenting awards at the banquet. The Sacramento County Academic Decathlon competition took place February 7 at Del Campo High School in Fair Oaks.
Winners of Super Decathlete Awards
(students with overall best individual scores, by category):
H=Honors S=Scholastic V=Varsity
Gold Medal
H RAE ZHOU Laguna Creek High School
S BRITTAN MILLHOLLEN Bella Vista High School
V DAVID MAUSS Bella Vista High School
Silver Medal
H LAURALEE BROWN Bella Vista High School
S DAVID FRIEDMAN Bella Vista High School
V JUDY SPARACINO Bella Vista High School
Bronze Medal
H VICTORIA LEE J.F. Kennedy High School
S ROBERT NEISWENDER Bella Vista High School
V BRENDAN SMITH Folsom High School
Schools placing highest in the Super Quiz competition
(compilation of scores from written & oral Super Quiz exams)
1st BELLA VISTA HIGH SCHOOL
2nd J.F. KENNEDY HIGH SCHOOL
3rd LAGUNA CREEK HIGH SCHOOL
4th DEL CAMPO HIGH SCHOOL
Most Improved Score From Prior Year
Galt High School
Rankings of Sacramento County schools which participated in the 2004 Academic Decathlon
1st Bella Vista High School, coached by Mike Erickson
(THE BELLA VISTA HIGH SCHOOL TEAM NOW ADVANCES TO THE STATEWIDE COMPETITION MARCH 12-14 IN SACRAMENTO)
2nd J.F. Kennedy High School, coached by Jennifer Reynaga
3rd Mira Loma High School, coached by Guy Roberts
4th Del Campo High School, coached by John Davis
5th Folsom High School, coached by Melinda Wilson
6th Rio Americano High School, coached by Kim Martin
7th Laguna Creek High School, coached by Susan Boone
8th Rio Vista High School, coached by Bill Fulk
9th Galt High School, coached by Edward Murray
10th Encina High School, coached by Lynn Begg
11th Sheldon High School, coached by Gina Smith and Krystal Renwick
12th Rio Linda High School, coached by Jason Cummings
13th Florin High School, coached by Sue Verne
14th Center High School, coached by Jeremy Hunt
15th Valley High School, coached by Erik Prussel
16th Elk Grove High School, coached by Leah Bos
17th San Juan High School, coached by Michael Peebles
18th Franklin High School, coached by Matt Wiest and Roy Grimes
About the Academic Decathlon
Each school's team, comprised of Honors ("A" average) students, Scholastic ("B" average) students, and Varsity ("C" average) students, competed February 7 in the 24th Annual Sacramento County Academic Decathlon. Modeling their efforts after the Olympic Decathlon, students vied for top individual and team scores in 10 events: Mathematics, Art, Music, Language/Literature, Economics, Science, Essay, Speech, Interview and Super Quiz. The Academic Decathlon, an all-day event, represented months of study and preparation by approximately 150 students and their teacher-coaches. Culminating the event was the oral portion of the Super Quiz, in which each team competed head-to-head against the others in answering tough questions on this year's theme, The Lewis and Clark Expedition. The overall theme of the 2004 Academic Decathlon was America: The Growth of a Nation. Serving as this year's Super Quiz Master was Stuart Satow, executive recruiter for Shannon Executive Search and former sportscaster for ABC affiliate KXTV-10. The county-wide Academic Decathlon is conducted by Sacramento County Office of Education staff and volunteers, including Toastmasters International, Sacramento.
Additional information is available by phoning the Sacramento County Office of Education at (916) 228-2222 or accessing the following websites: