RIVERSIDE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOLS SCORE BIG IN ACADEMIC DECATHLON
Students from three Riverside County high schools are returning from Sacramento with bragging rights to major accomplishments in the state Academic Decathlon. “This is our third year in a row (at the state championship), and this has been our best year,” said Ryan Klopp, coach of the Elsinore High School team that scooped up five medals Friday, March 21, through Sunday, March 23. The team placed 29th out of about 60 schools. West Valley High ranked 37th, closely followed by Hemet High in 40th place. El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills won the competition. Chaffee High School in Ontario took sixth place, the best showing of any school in Riverside or San Bernardino counties. All three Riverside County coaches told of stiff competition, especially from several schools in Los Angeles County. But students on each of the local teams scored big. Elsinore High junior Maxwell Bland broke 8,000 points out of a possible 10,000. Bland won a silver medal in music — and gold in speech with a perfect 1,000 points. “It was pretty sensational,” Klopp said. Jesse Laine, an Elsinore senior, scored a silver in music and a silver in science. And senior Savannah Taylor came home with a bronze in science. West Valley High’s sevenmember team didn’t win any individual medals. But they also did well. “One of my kids was the highest scorer (this year) in state competition from Riverside County,” coach Timm Hannem said of 17-year-old Michael Martin. “He won 8,181 out of a possible 10,000. That’s also a school record for us. “I’m proud of what my kids accomplished with all the other extra-curricular activities they’re involved in,” Hannem said. “I have kids in sports and an unimaginable number of clubs.” At Hemet High, three kids medaled. And this year marked the first time the school has won the top prize in the essay competition, said coach Art Plinski. “It was all about planning the essay … and the organization,” said the decathlon’s new top essayist, 18-year-old Nathan Timpson, who scored 999 out of a possible 1,000 points. “I did (at least) 20 minutes of prepping. I had the whole thing written out in my head before I put it on paper.” Mason Meeks also won a gold medal for her essay, which was judged first in the varsity level and seventh-best in the state, Plinski said. And Shawna McCann walked away with a silver medal in interview for the scholastic level, making her fourth in California overall. Like all the Riverside County coaches, Plinski was delighted with his team. “We haven’t won three medals in Division One in a decade,” he said.