LCWM Academic Decathlon Team Earns Second Place at State
and Earns Trip to Nationals in Garden Grove, California
The LCWM Academic Decathlon team placed second overall at the state competition held February 28-March 2 at the Crowne Plaza Minneapolis West in Plymouth, MN. Team scores were:
Avalon – 32,413.5 points
LCWM – 29,335.7 points
Hiawatha Collegiate – 18,692.8 points
Avalon Alternates – 13,432.9 points
St. Peter – 13,283.9 points
With LCWM placing second overall in the state, they will represent Minnesota as a “wild card” team at the national competition to be held April 20-26 in Garden Grove, California. This will be LCWM’s 19 th appearance in a national Academic Decathlon competition. Past appearances include California in 1999, Alaska in 2001, Arizona in 2002, the medium school national online competition in 2008, the small school national online competition in 2010 and 2011, New Mexico in 2012, Minnesota in 2013, Hawaii in 2014, the small school national online competition in 2015, 2016, and 2017, Texas in 2018, Minnesota in 2019, online in 2022, Texas in 2023, Pennsylvania in 2024, and Iowa in 2025. At the national competition, students will take written tests in art, economics, literature, math, music, science, and social science, present a prepared and impromptu speech, participate in an interview, and write an essay. They will also take part in the Super Quiz Relay which challenges students to work in groups to answer questions in a head-to-head quiz show format. This year’s curriculum theme is “The Roaring Twenties”. LCWM students will be competing for national medals as well as scholarships.
Members of the LCWM team are:
Honors: Morgan Klinkner, Karl Schwartz, and Phena Jones;
Scholastic: Jacob Nelson, Nason Krzmarzick, and Derek Bernat;
Varsity: Reese Anderson, Jake Wersal, and Bella Jacobs.
Team coach is Billy James.
Team members earned 39 medals at the state competition. Earning medals were:
* Morgan Klinkner (honors): third in music and second in math.
* Karl Schwartz (honors): second in music, first in science, second in economics, second in social science, and second overall.
* Phena Jones (honors): second in literature, third in music, second in math, and second in essay.
* Jacob Nelson (scholastic): second in music, second in science, third in art, third in economics, second in essay, third in speech, second in interview, and third overall.
* Nason Krzmarzick (scholastic): first in science and second in economics.
* Derek Bernat (scholastic): third in literature, third in music, first in science, second in art, and third in essay.
* Reese Anderson (varsity): second in music, third in science, second in economics, second in essay, third in social science, first in interview, and third overall.
* Jake Wersal (varsity): first in science, second in essay, and second in speech.
* Bella Jacobs (varsity): first in music, third in art, and third in math.
The team’s highest scoring students in each division were: Karl Schwartz (honors) with 6,321.1 points, Jacob Nelson (scholastic) with 4,643.2 points, and Reese Anderson (varsity) with 4,135.4 points. Jacob Nelson earned the most medals with a total of 8, and every team member earned at least 2 individual medals.
There were a total of 6 individual state championships earned by LCWM students. These students were Karl Schwartz, Nason Krzmarzick, Derek Bernat, Reese Anderson, Jake Wersal, and Bella Jacobs.
Four students were selected from all of the state participants to present their speeches during the “Speech Showcase” event at the state awards ceremony. One LCWM student, Jake Wersal, was selected for the Speech Showcase. Jake’s speech topic was “The Effects of Being a Police Officer”.
The team wishes to thank parents, teachers, administrators, and the community for the continued support and interest in the program. Special thanks go to Tracy Meadows, Sue Ehlers, Alex Keilen, and Karissa Hall for their help in preparing the students for competition.
